Perpetually For Science
by ChangeIsJustifiable
Summary: [ABANDONED] Almost a year after Sephiroth's defeat, a scientist gets curious. Poor little Cloud can't get away from them, can he? Sorta AU [I'll interpret the game any way I like, thank you], OCs, extremely eventual RenoCloud
1. Covering bases

**Perpetually for Science**

Chapter One -- Covering Bases

_Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005_

**Warnings**: G for odd usage of language and a scientist.

**Disclaimer: **... Again, why would I be posting on FFdotNET if they were mine? (Well, Z and her henchmen are mine, but ...) Feel free to nit-pick about anything so I can fix it (except the style, that's here to stay.)

**,;;,This is a boarder. Ph34r it,;;,**

A jolt of warning rushed down his spine; muscles coiled, and his entire body surged backward, only to bounce off something cold and hard. The world swam, and he shook his head, trying to clear it, but the spining-whirling-dizzy-and-he-couldn't-remember-which-way-was-up wouldn't stop, the world turning-and-tossing-and --

Warning!

Again, he lunged blindly only to be reunited with cold solidity. This time he grasped at it, bare palms on frozen metal, sharp edges digging into the mostly tender flesh. When had he rubbed his hands raw --? Should have a glove, but no, it was cold and harsh against his palm.

A noise jerked his foggy head around, and he glared against the dizzying effect of light and color, and any moment now he'd be sick to his stomach-oh-god-make-the-spinning-stop-because-he-couldn't-take-it-anymore--

"So, she has improved you that much." A feminine voice said, interrupting his internal mantra, and he heard something scratching. His cluttered memory told him the sound was familiar, but he couldn't place it. "Very good, Subject One. I am most pleased I chose you as my specimen."

This word, he remembered, and with it, a torrent of confusing lights and noises -- memories that tormented him in the night, that awoke him screaming and panicking and would linger for days, and not even soft hands that smoothed his hair could make them stop. One of the few memories he wished to forget.

Pain, and aqua light. Suffocating, yet not. Agony, TRAPPED.

The rest came back in a flood.

**,;;, This is still a boarder ,;;,**

The day was warm and pleasant. It was brighter outside than it usually was, which is probably why no one had paid the bar a visit. Tifa was idling around the bar, wiping down an already clean counter with a rag. She'd cut her hair, deeming it more trouble than it was worth, and now the ends brushed her shoulder. She'd long since abandoned the off-white top and skirt for something a little more appropriate -- a rich burgundy button up over a black shirt and faded cut-offs. She was a businesswoman after all -- not a slum bartender. Since she was through with the counter, she picked up another cloth and began to wipe out the mugs.

Tifa nearly dropped everything when the door slammed open. There was a flash of blond, and the brunet just barely ducked in time to avoid the punch.

"What have you done with Reno?!"

"Hey!" Tifa yelped in shock as another fist came at her, and she had little choice but to toss the thick glass mug at her assailant and dive over the counter where she wouldn't be trapped. She winced when she heard the mug break, but kept moving. "Calm down, would you?" she demanded, and spun to face the other woman, her fist up. "I didn't do anything to your boyfriend!"

She barely had time to block the fist that tried once again to knock her across the room, and had to leap back to avoid the shiny black shoe that tried to clip her nose off.

"Then were is he?" Elena demanded, huffing. She was strangely not in her Turk uniform -- but that was right, they were allowed to retire -- instead wearing a lavender button-up and jeans. Her hair was the same, oddly enough, and it was obvious that she'd taken to wearing make-up.

"I dunno!" Tifa growled, still inching backward just in case the blond erupted again. "Did you have a fight or something?"

Elena snorted, and deflated, her shoulders sinking. "I don't know where you get your information, but Reno isn't my boyfriend, no, we didn't have a fight, and where is Strife?"

Tifa arched an eyebrow at the name -- Elena didn't usually refer to Cloud by his last name. "I don't know. Last I heard he said he was going out to do whatever he does. I don't keep tabs on him, you know."

Elena blinked her large brown eyes. "You don't? I thought you two…"

Tifa giggled nervously. "Nah, Cloud's a little unstable to be in a relationship right now. Half the time he isn't even really here. Disappears for days ... can't keep track of him, though. Somehow, he's gotten good at being scarce when he doesn't want to talk."

"Oh ... and you haven't seen Reno?"

"Should I have? I haven't seen him since that incident down in the tunnels…"

"Mmm…" Elena frowned. "Yeah. I guess it was shortly before that…"

Tifa's ears perked at this. What was going on with Reno? She was curious, of course, but knew better than to ask yet. "Where's Rude?"

Elena glanced back over her shoulder and then sighed. "He said he was going out to look for Reno. I haven't seen either of them for days."

The brunet glanced over her own shoulder, back at the bar. "You want a drink? I'm pretty good at mixing."

"Sure."

They sat in silence for a long time, Elena staring moodily at her drink, and Tifa wondering just how lonely the blond must be. Sure, she herself was lonely because of Cloud's absence, but she had the others to keep her company. They would call, sometimes Reeve would send Cait to visit, occasionally Cid would drop by to drink and complain about Shera, and Barret didn't live far away. All in all, life in Midgar wasn't that bad anymore.

"Planned to come in here to box Strife." Elena said suddenly. "He was the one that really irritated me. He's the one that seemed to have a problem with Reno ... I didn't really think you'd done something, but I was so mad…"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Its okay. Really, Cloud only seems bad until you get to know him. He's really a sweet guy just ... a bit confused, you know? I think that they just have a personality conflict."

"Yeah ... Reno, he seemed really angry lately. He kept ranting about 'that damned Strife', so I just figured ... when he disappeared, you know?"

Tifa blinked, curiosity nigh undeniable. "Yeah, but I don't think Cloud has anything to do with Reno ... Why would Reno still be angry at Cloud after all this time?"

Elena looked up at Tifa with sardonic eyes. "I dunno. Reno likes puzzles, though, and if anyone is a puzzle, I guess Strife would be the highest on the list of the hardest to figure out."

Again, Tifa tittered nervously. "Yeah, I suppose. Everyone knows how hard I worked to unravel that man, but…"

Elena stared at the amber liquid in her mug. "Reno ... he does linger on the past, though. Doesn't act like it, but he does. When he drinks it gets worse, 'cause then he thinks out loud ... Men are so strange when they drink."

Tifa didn't respond to that, unsure as to how she should. They sat in silence for a while longer, when suddenly, a suspicion filled Tifa. "How odd…" she said suddenly, causing the smaller blond in the chair to start slightly. "How many days ago was Reno's disappearance?"

Elena blinked at her and shrugged. "About four."

"Cloud disappeared just three days ago ... You don't think something happened to them?"

Elena frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Cloud certainly has his share of enemies, and I'd find it hard to believe that Reno doesn't." Tifa said, also frowning. "You don't suppose that…?"

Elena's eyes flashed with anger. "I should have known ... Call your friends, I'll see if I can find Rude."

Tifa nodded, turning to reach under the counter for her PHS, while she idly tracked Elena's progress out the door by her shoes. She quickly dialed the system. "Hello? Reeve? I think we have a problem…"

**,;;, Everything you didn't know ,;;,**

He was alone. He hated being alone. Where was he? What had happened -- why couldn't he remember anything?

This lack of knowledge bothered him in a strange and distant way, and there was the bizarre feeling of non-weight. His eyelids were too heavy for him to lift, though he wasn't sure he wanted them to, because then he would see, and for some reason this was a bad thing.

He could almost feel another presence distantly, something like agitation, though it wasn't aimed at him. Vaguely aware of movement, just enough to know that they were moving at fast speeds, though the ride was smooth.

There was something sickly sweet in his mouth, something in his lungs, but this didn't bother him much, though a dull ache in his arms and neck made him want to claw at his skin for some reason. He couldn't lift his hands though -- too heavy…

Something of a face, frowning. Something of a plan --

But these worries faded with the gentle rocking of his prison, lulling him back into unconsciousness.

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

Fair warning: This story will have OCs. There **may or may not **be shoujo-ai and het, at this point, I dunno, but I doubt it. There **will **be eventual Yaoi -- that I promise.

Most characters will come into play, and there may be (what I consider to be) clichés abound.

I refuse to write Elena as a whimpy chick. She'll just be quick-tempered, impulsive, and over eager -- mostly because that is how I interpret her character during the game. The challenge for me is not writing Tifa as a bitch-slut-whore.

And it may end up seeming that Cloud curses more than Cid. That is simply because I find Cid hard to write.

You know, I'm not sure how I feel about this Fic. Granted, its my very frist attempt at Reno, and also at RenoCloud, but I hope I can pull it off well. (hides in the corner and makes sacifies to her Ebil-Gods-O'-Sin)


	2. Reno has a different Spin

Chapter: Two -- "Reno has a different Spin"

_Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005_

Warnings: R for blood, cussing, violence ref: Turk); a scientist; gay henchmen; and Cloud being OOC.

**,;;,pyramid!,;;,**

This was most possibly the worst hangover he'd ever had -- and he had a lot of them, so that was really saying something. The light was too bright, he was sick to his stomach, and if those damned footsteps got any closer he was going to reach for his gun -- or nightstick, which ever his hands found first -- and brutally sever those feet from the annoying person they were attached to. Didn't this guy know better than to storm around when someone -- especially a Turk, ex- or no -- had a hangover?

Something almost sharp dug into his back.

That was the last straw.

He was grateful for his own speed and reflexes, because it was only a split second after grabbing the offending object and jerking that damned person face first into the bars that the headache pounced and tried to murder him. He grit his teeth painfully, leaning back against the cold bars behind him, idly studying the guy he's just knocked dizzy.

What was it about this situation that seemed completely wrong?

A wash of caged feelings swept over him, reminiscent of feral days in his past, and even with the fog of what he now knew to be drugs hanging over him, he understood. He had been ambushed, had fought most of them off, but there had been too many. A foul, oily smell that still clung to the back of his throat, and now he was caged -- as an animal.

Dammit, he'd only been going out for a drink! He's plans had been simple enough -- get drunk, find a willing lady, and head back to the home he shared with his two friends. They were retired! Why was someone kidnapping him now? He ran down a mental check-list, but nowhere could he find a mark that would mean that someone important was pissed at him -- he was sure never to cause any trouble with the rich bastards simply because he was no longer in Turks and didn't have that safety net to fall on when things got out of hand.

He had no weapon except his body, though he still had his clothing -- rumpled khakis, white short-sleeve button-up over a muscle-shirt, and a dark blue jacket. To his chagrin and slight amusement, they'd even taken away his shades and his shoes -- nice shiny ones; they were new and not even broken in, something he wished he could have done before they were taken. What was he going to do? Did they think he was going to kill himself with the shoestrings? Or stab him in the ear with the shades? Hardly! Reno was a survivor, and he had no say in the matter.

Seeing as how the guy's bloody face was beginning to make his stomach churn, he glanced around the room. It was white, and sterile smelling. Huge, like a cargo room, and he easily spotted where the main door was. There was hardly any color in the room expect for --

Oh, _HELL _no.

Sprawled across the bottom of another cage nearby, there was a body with blond hair. Hair that he remember too well --

_Bright light coming down, blinding as it reflected off blond and pale skin -- leisurely movements and bright flash of light off blue as the person turned, unconcerned -- eyes that weren't natural, that glowed and then flashed as light hit them again --_

Reno shook his head slightly. He would be lying if he said it wasn't poetic how the two had been haloed in light in the deathly calm of a church. Was that foreshadowing or what? The last time he'd seen that man, the eyes were dark with concerns, but that makou made them glow in the tunnel, high-lighting the grim set of those features --

Gods, how he hated those eyes -- hated the body -- hated the person that the body belonged to.

Reno abruptly decided that there wasn't anything to stare at, so he began glaring at the wall.

… Glaring at walls is very boring . . .

Maybe he should try glaring harder?

Ow! Maybe he wouldn't. He didn't know that he could actually hurt himself just by glaring…

Well, at least Blondie had stopped wearing that rag-tag periwinkle uniform, right? He's gotten enough sense to wear better clothing, though he could have chosen better than black pants and the sleeveless turtleneck to match. Heh, they'd taken away his shoes, too. Go figure. Besides that, the man was the same as ever. Really, though, blonds shouldn't wear black. Elena had tried that once and it just came off all wrong.

"Yo, Blondie, you look like a Goth-wannabe. Suck it up and get over it. While you're at it, get a hair-stylist, whydoncha." he muttered, though he knew the man couldn't hear him. He felt kinda stupid -- like he was talking to himself -- and gave the blond an ugly look. Well, he couldn't say much as far as hair was concerned actually, since he rarely brushed his own and it never stayed that way when he did. It had gotten some length, though, and now he'd catch it between chairs and himself when he lounged.

He slid further down the bars, though it didn't help much. There just really wasn't anyway that you could get comfortable on steel, right?

"Hey!" Reno barked suddenly, half surprising himself. "Can't you get some chairs in here if you're gonna kidnap me?"

Then, nearly scaring him enough to jump, a door slid open, and a woman swept in with two large hulking men at her elbows. Great, here was the mastermind behind this all, and she even had henchmen. How typical is that?

"Wow, Queen bitch." Reno remarked, somehow greatly amused despite the gravity of the situation. "Please. Do you get your wardrobe and make up from 'evil Villains anonymous'?"

It was true though; the woman -- she couldn't be much more than thirty -- was wearing a black netted top over a bra, a short skirt of shiny vinyl -- Tifa's skirt had never been that short for cryin' out loud! -- and black thigh-highs kept in place with a safety-pin chain to her skirt. But what mad scientist would be complete without the stark white jacket? She had the small oval glasses perched on her nose, dark hair pinned back in a bun, and almost black eyes -- not to mention the over-applied purple eye shadow and thick red lipstick. It was enough to make his stomach churn, and he mock-gagged, testing her.

She just smirked at him. _Smirked _at _him_! Wasn't that against the law somewhere? It was slightly amazing how fast he was losing his patience. Granted, Reno had never been one with much in the patience department, but she was using up quicker than anyone else ever had, even Strife.

"Subject Two." she purred. "Up and ready after five hours under strong chloroform."

Reno's eyes widened, ignoring the 'subject' part. Chloroform? They took that off the market after it caused a few too many deaths via accidental overdose ... damn it! What the fuck were they doing? Really, it shouldn't bother him much since he usually tried to fry this brain cells himself with alcohol... but it did, and he knew why. Too much of his life, he had control ripped from his grasping hands. It instilled a very paranoid independence in him, and he didn't like it when what control he had was taken from him.

The woman turned from him, back toward the other body on the ground.

"Subject One still unconscious." she remarked, tsking. She turned to the man behind her. "How many ccs of tranquilizers did you give him? Jenova should have wiped it out."

"Twice the recommended. He wouldn't drop, Ms. Z." The man said quietly.

She tsked once more, and then spun on one high-heel, heading for the fallen guard. Reno was actually very surprised she didn't fall on her ass or at least break her neck. She jerked up the rod from the floor, striding back to the other cage. Reaching between two bars, she didn't even get the rod close.

Muscles barely even twitched before the man was off the floor and bouncing off the back of the cage. He careened around it blindly, recoiling from the rod without even seeing it. Then, it was as if a light flipped on.

"YOU FILTHY BITCH!"

Reno's eyes widened. He'd never heard the blond scream, right alone cuss. Then again, he had never seen the blond this emotional before -- the man was usually a statue for all emotion he showed, granting it wasn't indignation. That was one state of being the blond was marvelous at displaying.

"What in the fuck do you think you'll accomplish?" Cloud Strife continued on ranting pace. "What do you think you can get from me?"

"Why, Subject One, I'd thought you'd be used to being in this position." She replied coolly. "Now, if you don't mind, its almost your stop."

The small blond hissed with displeasure, settling against the bars as far from the woman as he could, much as Reno had. Reno harrumphed his displeasure and leaned his head back against the bars. It was almost as if the gods decided it wasn't bad enough that he was forced to remember that the stupid fuck existed; now that spiky bastard was going to copy him. Reno was getting fed up with those nigh-and-mighty bastards. Oh, for cryin' out loud!

As bored as Reno was, the next bit was inevitable. "Hey, Strife, meet our generic villain -- Look! She even dressed the part! Doctor Z, meet our generic Hero -- he's not dressed to the part, but I'm sure if he knew you were going to kidnap him --"

"Shut up, Reno." Strife growled, glaring at him.

"Hey, I _already _talked to _you_, I'm talking to _her _now. Be quiet while I finish the introductions -- Ms. Z might get the idea that you're not the subject she wants."

The blond stared at him balefully. "If she picked me for why I think she picked me, I don't think she has much of a choice."

Reno quirked an eyebrow at that statement, but plowed on, not one to be put off track. "Now! As I was saying, I'm sure Strife would have been perfectly happy to drag his old hero outfit out of the trunk in the attic and not only dress but _act _the part of the muchly put-upon hero. Sadly, I am a stubborn bastard, and you should have gotten Rude if you really wanted the generic Turk."

"Actually," Z said, grinning. "I am quiet sure that I want you as my other subject; however, I do thank you for your concerns!"

Strife smirked at him, and Reno gave the blond an annoyed look; however, the conflict that might have developed was nipped in the bud, as the room shivered violently, and it was realized they were in an airship that was quiet definitely heading somewhere.

"What exactly are we lined up for anyway?" Strife demanded. A quick glance revealed that the blond was nearly in a ball, his eyes glowing out at the bitch from between his knees and just over his arms.

"Not that you knowing will change anything, but I'm curious to your reaction. The whole idea of my kidnapping you and Subject Two is to determine just how much more advanced you are. We'll be depositing you on a newly-born island, absolutely filled with little things that would love to eat either of you." she purred, smirking.

"Oh, well this is grand." Reno complained, rolling his eyes. "I get to be the control. You know, you really could have chosen a better control variable -- like the chick with the chest. Or even that guy with the arm thing. Better yet, the kleptomaniac that needs to wear more clothing -- could have done off with two annoying bastards. _Wait_, I like this idea _better _-- could you do a pirouette, break a heel, and die?"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Reno." Strife snarled. "If it were anyone else than you, her experiment would be screwed. I'd help whoever I was stuck with."

"Yeah, I love you, too, Prickles."

"Ooh, nice nickname."

"The short version is Prick."

"So I guessed."

A pen scratched across paper. "Subject Two's estimated lifetime expectancy: two weeks. Cause: Over-emotionality, maybe Subject One."

"What?" Reno demanded, blinking at her. "He couldn't kill me! Really, ask anyone! Every bet would go on me winning."

The man in question snorted. "I think this may be more serious than a street fight, Reno. Ignore her. She's doing it to provoke you, and you know that. Turks outta know psychological torture well enough."

"Strife, would you shut up or focus on her or something?"

Strife's head lifted briefly to give Reno a neon stare. Then the glow dimmed a bit, and Strife rolled forward, crawling toward the front of the steel bars. His lips pulled into a smirk, and he pulled himself up by the bars into a crouched position, leaning heavily against them.

"Soo," he drawled. "Dr. Z, is it? Just how thorough _was _that physical exam I'm _sure _you gave me?"

Whoa. Reno didn't know Strife had it in him. That may explain how he became a SOLDIER even though for the most part he seemed a little frail. As for Dr. Z, she was blinking in a mildly startled fashion at the man in question. Then she suddenly broke into a grin.

"Thorough enough that I am quiet aware of your physical abilities, and your measurements. All of them." she said wolfishly.

Reno watched in fascination as the suave over-sexed air disappeared from Strife. Strife's eyes became comically wide, and he suddenly went limp against the bars. "You what?" he squeaked. His face turned almost as red as Reno's hair, which was no easy feat. "Aw, now com'n, did you have to go and do that?"

"So what?" Reno asked, scooting forward in his cell toward the bitch. "Is he horribly under developed or what? Why is he so embarrassed?"

"This isn't funny!" Strife yelled loudly. "This is worse than the other time!"

Ignoring the outraged blond, Z simply smirked at Reno. "While I may oversee all the examinations, I do not perform them."

"I got molested by hulking gay men! AGAIN! Why am I always molested by gay men?" Strife wailed.

Reno suddenly understood the blond's reaction, but couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Because straight men wouldn't want to molest you. Though I have to admit, after seeing that last episode you just had, I can't see why you're wondering why they want to."

"Oh, shut up, would you?" Strife snarled, lunging at him and coming up short as he bounced off the cage. "You understand, huh? Just how well, Reno-babe? Is it getting warm in here for you?"

Reno blinked at Strife incredulously for a moment. Slowly, he turned back to the 'doctor'. "Z, you can't leave me anywhere with him! Did you see that? The guy's insane! And considering I'm the control, _he's _the tested variable, so I don't think you really want me to kill him because he has another spaz attack."

"I'll spaz attack _you_!" Strife yelled, through Reno could tell the blond wasn't really paying attention anymore as he retreated to a corner. Reno tightened his grip on the bars, turning back to the woman bent on ruining their lives.

"Listen, Z, I'd love to be your control, but I really don't think that's such a good idea what with sticking me with the psycho. Seriously, now, he's gonna end up killing me, and then where would you be?"

"Sending one of my henchmen down," she answered easily, arching an eyebrow. "But I'd prefer you as a control. I'll make it worth your while to get off that island alive."

"Honey, baby, sweet-thing from heaven above, you don't have enough money to get me off this plane and around Blondie. You see, I do know what damage he's capable of, and I really don't want to be in anywhere near him when he gets pissed off. He might not have anything in the way of deception or strategy, but when Prickles gets pissed, a lot of things die, and not much is left standing."

"Looks like you have a healthy dose of self-preservation." Z said -- almost as if it were a compliment. Meanwhile, the object of their conversation was sulking in the far corner of his cage.

"Who doesn't?" Reno demanded. "It sounds like you know his little adventure, so I don't know why you're surprised."

"I'm perfectly aware of his past, and why did you think I have him behind bars? I want you both alive, though damage is not important. It might make it more interesting ... " Z trailed off, a glazed look in her eyes. Reno grimaced, not really wanting to know what she was thinking.

"So, was Strifey right about your reasons for choosing me?" he asked idly. He really didn't care, but was also bored out of his mind, and the other man didn't seem like a good candidate.

"Close enough." Z answered, focusing back on him. "One of the reasons was because you two were assured to have a personality conflict."

"Wonderful." he remarked sardonically, suddenly feeling the aircraft slowing down. "Is this our stop?"

"Of that," she said in an irritatingly chipper manner. "You can be assured."

**,;;, Reno! Whee!,;;,**

Z stood by as the men lowered the two -- still in their cages -- onto the ground outside. She checked a few nearby machines, taking note of the air pressure and temperature. "A storm is coming," she said, jotting that piece of information down. "That should make this slightly more interesting.

"Are you sure the guys won't kill each other?" a teenager asked, slouching out of sight in the cargo hold.

"I chose my children well -- you would do nicely to remember that." she responded, but the words had no bite. She turned enough to smile at him. "They'll survive if they manage to work together."

"And if they don't?" he asked, though his voice was apathetic. Z knew better than to expect the boy to really care what happened to her two subjects.

"Then you'll get to make new toys," she said. "Real toys. You like that, don't you?"

A brilliant grin lit up his face. "Real ones? Not just one's you've pulled off the streets? From scratch?"

"From scratch, I promise. But don't go trying to kill my children just so you can play." Her warning fell on deaf ears as the teen was already babbling to himself, retreating back to his lab. Z smiled fondly after him. "That child…"

She turned back to the men as they were boarding the ship. "You do have them secured, correct?" she asked briskly.

"Of course, Ms. Z." the nearest one said. "We do as Ms. Z asks."

"Of course you did!" she purred happily. "He did such excellent work on your genes ... a pity he's spiteful and crippled your reproduction instincts ... oh well, boys will be boys!"

The hulking men followed after her as she started for the airship's lobby, closing the massive door and immersing the room in darkness that was not quiet pitch black. There was a rumble as the airship started, and the floor shook as it lifted into the air.

In the blackness, a slender form moved, silent and nimble. Lips twisted to form a sneaky smirk.

"Cloudy, are you in trouble or what?"

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

Reno: Abso-fucking-lutely wonderful. Where in the fuck did this idea come from anyway?

Just thought it would be amusing to stick Reno and Cloud on an island full of monsters and have them engage in a knock-down-drag-out fight. n.n They has such beautiful personality conflicts together! See?!

Reno: ...

Cloud: Oh, fuck off.

Reno: DIE! (pounces on him)

X.x; if parts seem not to match up, remember that Reno doesn't know everything about what happened in the game. (Such as Cloud really never was in SOLDIER, the Jenova-infection, ect.)


	3. What Happened While you Were Gone

Chapter: Three -- "What happened while you were gone"

_Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005_

**Warnings**: R for other chapters, Rude's OOCness, and listening to the Chocobo theme on repeat while writing this .... O.o

**NOTE**: I was just thinking ... what IS in character for Rude?! I seriously don't know the man, and I can't really bring myself to take the fandom's InCharacter for him ... Ugh.

**,;;,Am I the only one who thinks that destroying the world and blowing buildings up isn't comic mischief?,;;,**

Elena looked over the motley crew that was Avalanche. They'd changed a lot since the last time she'd seen them -- they'd cleaned up their act in a sense. Barret was dressed in jeans and shirts that didn't gape open anymore; his gun-arm was gone, replaced by a mechanical one she suspicion came from Reeve. Cid was chewing on an unlit cigarette, looking less like a grease monkey than he usually did -- he wasn't even cussing as loudly and without cause as he used to. Reeve had sent the Cait model minus the mog since he couldn't be distracted long enough to engage in any search-and-rescue missions. Red XIII was the same as ever, the passage of a year nothing to him. But there were some missing.

It was almost interesting how they'd suddenly formed a tolerance for each other. She slightly suspected that's because the two that had the most issues with the other group were missing. As long as they didn't make any stupid remarks or decided to be stubborn, it should work out fine.

Rude stood by stoically as Elena headed toward Tifa. "Hey! Where are the girl and the Goth?"

Tifa turned to her, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know where Yuffie is. She never answered my calls. And Vincent ... I would have thought you'd know…"

Elena blinked, confused. "Why would I know? Valentine wasn't ever exactly thrilled about the prospect of rejoining the Turks, and we're retired anyway…"

"Oh ... well ... its a long story..." Tifa said reluctantly.

For a moment, Elena almost pursued the topic, but she was starting to grasp when to just leave things be, especially after working with Reno. "Oh, well, okay." she said instead. "Then lets start trying to figure out just what's going on."

**,;;, Cheese has no power over me ,;;,**

Elena was uncomfortable.

Rude stared at the group from behind his shades, rich brown eyes not missing a detail. He knew his partner was uneasy about being around the group, and was mildly pleased that she hadn't burst into another triad about them stealing Reno. He doubted they had anything at all to do with it, but that wouldn't mean that Elena would be so easily convinced, and knew that she subconsciously probably wasn't. It would be easy to spark another outburst should anyone say anything in the least bit inflammatory, and with both Cid and Barret within earshot, that would probably happen.

He was a bit embarrassed to be faced with Tifa -- a woman he found highly attractive -- but luckily he didn't have to say much since Elena decided to take over Reno's job as the communicator. Reno -- though a smartass at times -- was the only one least likely to cause a fit simply because he was able to be offensive without actually offending; contradictory, but the man had charisma. Elena might cause a fight simply because she was so passionate and explosive, and Rude because he had no tact and knew it.

Elena and Tifa were talking, and Cid and Barret were making comments of some sort, but were speaking too softly to hear. Nanaki was over near them, watching but not speaking, and Cait was with the girls because they were the only ones who might do something productive.

Personally, Rude felt like this was a waste of time better spent hacking files or questioning people -- How were they supposed to know or find out who did it when all they were doing was standing around brainstorming? Someone that would have stolen both men -- while very unlikely -- would be hard to trace, and hard to retrieve from.

Who in the hell would want Reno and Strife? Rude had wondered over this more times than he'd care to recall, and there was no logical connection between them. Strife was a terrorist, savoir of the world, genetic aberration, and stoic pain in the ass. Reno was an ex-Turk without the cleanest record, drunken gambler, the pain in the savior's side, observant to a fault, and vibrant pain in the ass. Besides being oddly alike, there was no reason for anyone to kidnap both, so they were missing something, or this was just a big coincidence.

Rude hated the inactivity, firmly convinced that they were losing time and thus sliming the chance that they would find either of the men. While he held no attachment or fondness for Strife, if the man could be convinced to help them search for Reno, then he'd be a valuable asset. However, if they found Reno first, then the Turks could be counted out on the search for Strife -- mostly because of Reno. The man was completely in the hold of his emotions and impulses, something that got him in more trouble than was usually worth it.

Rude watched blandly as the girls huffed and puffed and generally looked like they weren't figuring out anything. Cait was bouncing up and down, waving his arms and babbling, but Rude had no interest and thus ignore what the cat was saying. Barret and Cid were looking vaguely put off as they were listening, and Nanaki was sleeping in a corner, having long since lost any interest completely.

The tall man heaved a sigh. It didn't seem like much of anything was going to get done.

**,;;, Chocobo are eating my brains ,;;,**

Crash -- halt. Breaking denial.

Hadn't done it, didn't mean to --

Something -- something

It was beyond his reach.

Tormenting him, teasing him -- if he could just reach it -- but he couldn't.

Fell short, couldn't make it. Breaking, it was all breaking, falling, _shattering_.

It tore at him, and he didn't know just how much more he could take before he screamed and didn't stop -- couldn't stop -- did he want to?

Something that pull and tugged and violated, filling ever crevice of his awareness, filling and chocking him slowly, and the world swirled like dizziness and fear, and betrayal.

Make it stop!

Something beneath it, something stirring, something that spoke whispers of knowing, of experience, warm and familiar and yet foreign and volatile. Comforting and at once distressing -- something that wasn't him, something that was and it was different, and it wanted to posses him.

"I want out."

Curled, knowing, promising.

We'll get out -- _together_.

That wasn't what he wanted.

**,;;, You know, I should put something meaningful in these ,;;,**

He shifted uncomfortably in his cage, sulking. It wouldn't be long before Dr. Z would be back, and he wasn't sure he like why she was gone. Living in her bedroom, he knew her plans -- mostly because she liked to think out loud while running programs on her computers; the huge mess of machinery held all her records, analyzed her data, and printed out professional reports.

He was almost painfully alone since the only other occupant really wasn't available for conversation at that time. The poor boy was tossing and twitching in his tube, as if he was having a nightmare. Mechanical arms dropped from the top of the tube and quickly injected the boy with sedatives.

He shut his eyes, unwilling to watch the momentary convulsions this would send the boy through, and was angered at his own inability to do anything. He hated what was being done to the both of them, yet couldn't do a thing about it.

"There are countless ways to die trying."

He wasn't willing to trying any of them.

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

I don't consider it good psycho-babble unless my grammar-check starts spewing smoke and almost every sentence is green with the phrase "fragment" attached. (purrs)

i.i;; I can't believe I actually had the audacity to call Vincent a Goth. Well, not me, but Elena did. (For those wondering: Unfortunately, once I know that a character exists, they sorta become real to me, and there isn't much I can do to force them into saying or doing stuff.)

Also, this chapter is painfully short considering how long it took me to spit it out. (curls into the corner and sulks.) Also, I will not post chapters on these guys unless you people remind me, as my original idea for this didn't even mention them until the end.

Am I the only one who wants to develope a relationship before I get to the 'love' part? Am I the only one who thinks that 'love' per se is overrated? Yes? Too bad. XD

_Responses to reviews can be found on my profile, and will remained for three days after the review was left._

_Please leave a snide remark at the end of the ranting!_

rant Goddamnit Vincent is not a Goth, for cryin out loud! He's a very melodramatic man who appreciates the more painful side of emotions because he's too lazy to bother with the happier since they are harder to create! /Rant


	4. Going For the Throat

Chapter: Four -- "Going for the throat"

_Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005_

**Warnings**: R for Reno's language, Cloud, Violence, a Cliché, and mild psychotica

**Notes**: Oh, yes, I remember this chapter. This is the chapter in which there is a rabid Cliche. (cries in the corner). I first wrote the Other!Subjects in here, and later revisions of eariler chapters added them in. So I consider chapter Three to be the one with the RabidClichesOfDOOM.

**,;;, Is that all you got? ,;;,**

"What in the hell do they expect me to do? Leap out and go for the throat?"

Cloud heaved a sigh, only lending half an ear to what the redhead was saying this time around. The air ship started to hover up, blowing plenty of dust in their faces; Cloud squinted tightly against the irritant, wondering if this was on purpose -- blind and unaware, couldn't hear, and danger all around. The cables attached to the cage doors slowly tightened, and then the doors were ripped off. How in the hell had they secured the cages in such a way that allowed them to do that? The floors appeared decently thick -- perhaps the hinges on the doors were weak just for this purpose -- that was excessively wasteful as the cages could only be used once in this manner.

He grabbed the nearest steel bar, glaring out at the forest; his hairs were on end, his eyes unnaturally bright and searching the green darkness. Every muscle was tensed -- he could feel the danger, knew just exactly how feral this island was, and just how new it was. This island was born out of the life-stream, and makou energy was abundant, making his skin tingle. What was that bitch thinking, leaving Reno on this island? Cloud might not get Makou poisoning from these levels, but Reno probably would -- at least until his body got used to it.

Made the damned man weak -- she did that on purpose, he bet; made Reno weak to see just how selfish his instincts made him. See just how much Jenova had changed him during her reign, right? See if it was worth doing it all again -- funding a new SOLDIER program, right? But it was dangerous and he was taking too long -- had to get out of the open.

He strode from his cage, squinting against the remaining sand in the air, and wasted no time heading for the brush. Reno was still near his cage, shaking his fist and screaming bizarre suggestions as to just what could be done with a bottle of chloroform at the air ship as it hovered above them. Cloud knew instinctively that was a bad thing to do, watching the man closely while he was distracted. The wild wind from the ship was making his clothing flap violent, throwing bright red hair every which direction, the ponytail whipping viciously. The man really hadn't changed all that much except he seemed rather passive and matter-of-fact now. He never used to be like that, and it hung oddly on the man. Reno was usually just playfully mocking -- what in the hell had someone done to him?

Why in the hell did he care? The man would only get in his way, would only slow him down -- damned city-born slum-rat. Cloud grew up surrounded by vicious children and psychotic monsters. They were out in the mild of a damned forest -- what use would Reno be to him? Slum-rat couldn't be --

No, wait. Why was he being this cold? Not usually, he wasn't --

There was a muffled explosion, Cloud's attention snapped back to reality, and Reno staggered. Even from this distance, Cloud could see the blood blossoming across Reno's white button-up. He wondered what would anger the Turk more -- the blood on the white shirt, or the fact that someone actually had the audacity to shot him. Knowing what he did of Reno, he decided that the man would find something completely off the wall to become frustrated about, and the pain was sure to make him short-tempered.

"Bad idea, that." he muttered, waiting patiently. If he were to go out there it would only result in himself in the same condition, and it wouldn't be a good idea for them both to be wounded. Despite his earlier comment, he knew he'd do what he could to make sure both of them were alive and eventually off the island -- he really couldn't bring himself to abandon the idiot. He had to fight the Jenova-programmed instincts.

Besides, the survival skills the redhead learned in the slums might help them once off the island.

Finally, the airship turned, slowly gaining speed as it headed back to mainland. Cloud waited a bit longer, and then decided to make an appearance.

"I'd almost say you deserved that for being an idiot." he commented, heading for the redhead. "But seeing as how that'll end up killing you, I doubt you're a big enough idiot to deserve that."

"Hey, you can stop right there!" Reno growled, retreating back a few steps, gray-blue eyes bright with anger. "No one asked you."

"If you had been paying attention, you should have noticed how quickly I took off. I knew that was coming." Cloud said, and shook his head. Reno should have known better -- should have known instinctively that when someone not panicked moved away, it was generally a good idea to follow suit.

"Oh? And how exactly do you know that?" he demanded, gritting his teeth, hand clamped down tightly on the wound.

He was being emotional and reckless. Reno was beginning to disappoint something within him. It may be better to leave the redhead behind -- he'd slow Cloud down, get them both killed ... and yet he couldn't bring himself to do it. He had to keep Reno around, and keep him alive. He'd let Zack down; he couldn't do that again just because Jenova's instincts told him 'every-infected-for-himself'. Zack hadn't been dead -- not when he left him. "Five years will teach anyone that. Scientists are a little fucked up in the head, okay?" Cloud said, rolling his eyes. "You do know that this is a Life-stream island, right? Blood's gonna call up those monster quicker than anything, so let me at it, and lets get the fuck out of here."

"Don't you fucking touch me, Strife! I don't trust you well enough."

"For the love of -- she was right; you ARE gonna die because you can't keep an objective eye!"

"I'll get an fucking objective eye when I goddamned need one. And I don't, so fuck off."

"Oh, everything with you is 'fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck-fuck'. You really like that word, don't you?"

Stormy blue eyes glared at him. If looks could kill... but they couldn't, and at this rate, Reno was the one going to end up dead. At this point, Cloud was pissed off enough that he was either going to kill Reno, or knock the shit out of him and then bandage that wound -- which he knew had a barbed transmitter inside. Best to get it out before the wound started to heal, and it was assured to be painful.

Well, he really didn't want to kill someone for no real reason -- him being a stupid bastard is not a good enough excuse -- and he really didn't feel like possibly getting into a fight in the middle of a danger zone, so he heaved a sigh and spun on his heel, heading back toward the brush. Knowing Reno, he'd end up find some reason to follow, just to make the man's life more miserable.

"Where in the fuck are you going, Strife?" Reno yelled after him, still obviously pissed off and in pain, and it would only get worse.

"I'm going to fucking hide, all right?" Cloud snapped. "You wanna stay out here and feed the cute little monsters, you do that. I don't wanna die at this moment in time, so I'm getting out of here. It's probably best I get the fuck away from you if you're gonna bleed all over the fucking place."

"Who likes the word 'fuck' now? Hey, get back here! I'm not finished with you!"

"Then run faster! That shouldn't be too damned hard -- your legs are long enough."

The air continued to be filled with useless arguing, through by this time, Cloud was barely paying attention to anything being said -- even what he was saying -- instead watching the undergrowth and grudgingly admiring the red-head's stamina. His whole shirt was bloody by this time, and he had yet to let up in the ferocity of his complaining andor insulting. Again, Cloud knew this was only leading on a trail of monsters, and he was getting fed up with Reno anyway.

It took nothing more than a quick turn, and he had the redhead by the arm and side. Without pausing more than necessary, he pulled and pushed respectively. Reno let out something strangely similar to a mewl of pain, and went limp.

"Wha --" he slurred, screwing his eyes shut. "Tha fu--"

Cloud quickly pinned the disoriented man with a knee to the chest, and dug his fingers into the wound. It was about time really that Cloud regretted his lack of weight, anyway.

Reno let out an inhuman shriek, clawing frantically, reacting like a madman to his worst hallucination yet. Cloud's eyes widened comically at the strength in Reno's unassuming body, searching frantically for the transmitter before the other man got the best of him. It wouldn't take long, because Reno had been trained for up-close-and-personal fighting -- every Turk was. Cloud really missed his sword.

Then there was something slick against his fingertips, and he scrambled for hold, not too soon. With a final twist and a kick, Cloud was sent tumbling off of the man, through the dirt and leaves. God, they tasted horrible -- like a compost pile, and he was decently sure that the taste would linger just to torment him.

A hiss of displeasure escaped his lips as he scrambled for footing, but wasn't quick enough. Reno was pissed, and out for blood -- whether or not Cloud would survive ripping that transmitter out was up for the judging. A knee crashed into his chest, effectively removing the air from his lungs, and iron fingers dug into his shoulders, yanking the small blond around. The pain and the redhead's irrationality was really starting to anger Cloud, and he knew if he took too much more damage his rage would peak. Bad things would happen if that gauge was met.

His sword usually saved him. Even when he couldn't take anymore torment, nothing would happen, because he could swing that huge and heavy hunk of metal around, burn out all his anger with the strain of having to stop the centripetal force that threatened to pull him into a tumble and start it up again like a pendulum. However, he didn't have his sword.

Desperate, frightened of where crossing that limit might take him, he swung out, and his fist connected with Reno's jaw. It was a loud sickening thud, sparking pain across his knuckles. Reno, even as feral as he was, wouldn't be able to hold out with as much blood loss as he was suffering from. He had to be light headed by now, dizzy without proper amounts of oxygen, feral because higher function wasn't available.

True enough, the redhead stumbled back, and Cloud took the opening. Another blow to the head was all it took to knock Reno out. Cloud huffed, out of breath and seething with frustration and near-rage; he stood unmoving as Reno stumbled backward and hit the ground with a disconcerting thump. His eyes stared unseeingly at that body crumpled on the ground like a forgotten doll, the chest shuddering with the force of the breath entering those lungs.

His skin crawled as though it wanted off him, air struggled not to pass his teeth, his limbs refused to stay still and cooperate. Left without outlet, he trembled as though something had taken him by his soul and was shaking him like a rag-doll. Muscles tightened and loosened sporadically, howling noises echoing in his ears, hypersensitive and starting at every slight breeze that dared to make a leaf move. Claustrophobia was not far behind, and the only thing that stayed his feet was the knowledge that blind running would kill him quicker than sticking around the blood-soaked man on the ground a few feet away.

Jenova would not be so easy to kill.

**,;;, X.x ,;;,**

The room was dark for the most part; light only emitted from two portions of the room. One was a massive amount of machinery and computers, the other a tube of green-blue liquid that glowed violently. In a darkened corner of the room, the light reflected dulling off steel bars. Doctor Z was at the machines, studying the blinking lights and reads. She eyed them in an almost bored manner -- idly scrawled out words on her clipboard, nonchalant, almost as if this was a chore to her. Another presence made himself known, sighing and resting against the bars of his cell, and she set the pen aside, pleased that he was awake.

"Subject One is most interesting," she purred, glancing over to regard the man. "Subject two is unconscious, yet very much alive."

"Cloud wouldn't kill Reno, and you know that." he answered, unimpressed. In his lap, his hands knotted and clenched, responding to a yet unknown emotional response to that name. "Both had ample opportunity to slaughter the other in varying degrees of weakness, and they both live."

"Of course," Z answered, spinning her chair around to face him. "I want an experiment, not a Battle Royale. If Mr. Strife killed Subject Two while still in his right mind, I'd be terribly disappointed."

"Your reasons for this experiment are nauseating," he muttered, and the disgust was barely held in check in his voice. "The fact that you're doing this is sickening -- if you just thought about it, I'd be put-off by you."

"Jenova is a dying specie. Did not Hojo try the same thing?" she asked, almost managing to sound pleading. It was odd, completely against her usual way of presenting herself.

"I think he was trying to crossbreed -- strange as that was -- not this. Not what you're doing." As much as Z and Hojo were alike, they were also extremely different. At least Z wasn't trying to breed or breed across specie -- which was, as far as he knew, not possible. However, he was no scientist.

Z sighed, spinning back to her machines. "I don't need you to understand or approve. I just need you alive." she said flippantly, pressing a finger to a computer monitor and humming lightly.

He hated it when she said that. He didn't know for sure what she was planning on doing with him, but he was positive he wasn't going to like it one bit. The woman was twisted -- kept calling him her child along ever other 'subject' that she had -- and she employed a twisted group. That was ignoring, of course, that one of the group genetically altered most of the rest.

"Oh! Look! Jenova has become active!" Z exclaimed, sounding almost child-like in her delight.

"Tell her its not time for school yet, and she can caught five more minutes." he responded mockingly, grinning in the dark corner -- it was a disturbing grin, though, one that casts doubts on the grinner's sanity. He hated that dark corner, but it was the best he was going to get.

"You're surprisingly protective of our little carrier, aren't you?" Z asked, smirking as she tapped her pen against her chin, seeming oddly pleased. He would have bet the woman was bipolar.

"Stop talking about him as if he's your son. Its sickening." he said in return, settling in a more comfortable position -- not comfortable, but at least less excruciating than his previous one.

"You're surprisingly squeamish -- and he is, in a way." she mused. "Though you're far more my son than he."

"I'm a clone -- hardly any relative to you," he reminded her, arching his eyebrows at her. She got extremely loony at times, and this seemed to be one of them. He was almost used to it, though, and this disturbed him.

"Such language." she tsked, turning just enough to look at him. "I gave you all your original's memories, didn't I?"

"And such lovely memories they were. I'm sure you know exactly why I'm 'protective of our carrier'."

"Actually, I'm surprised you aren't torn about your feelings. I did tell you his life story, right?"

He sighed again, rolling his eyes and leaning his head against the cold bars. "Only about as many times as you've tapped that damned ball-point against some part of your anatomy or someone else's."

"So I did." she allowed. She turned once more to the readings. "I think about two weeks will be long enough. Then it will be on to the next phase of my experiment!"

"Please, you shouldn't call it that. What you're doing isn't really testing much of anything. Sure, data will be a nice bonus, but that's not your aim."

"Then what would you prefer I call this?" she asked, sounding curious.

"A plot for World Destruction." he said ominously, glaring at her. She should know better than to ask him -- he thought he made it clear to her just how much he dislike what she was doing and disliked her.

She paused, pondering. "That has a nice ring. I guess you're right, honey, but don't think of this as world destruction." she chuckled a moment as he growled at her use of a pet name. "Think of this as humanity's best bet of survival."

"Best bet since makou reactors," he said darkly. "And we know how that turned out.

"This won't make the planet fall apart!" she chided. "If this somehow goes wrong, I highly doubt that it'll dry out the energy."

"Oh? Then what's the worst that this could do to the world?" he demanded, and there was a thick sinking feeling in his stomach that warned him ahead of time that he really wouldn't like the answer he was about to receive.

"Make it implode."

It might not have sounded as bad as it did if she hadn't giggled.

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

i.i;; I have issues with run-on sentences.

Huzzah for the implosion of the world and stuff! Yipes, those scientist really have an interesting way of looking at things, ne?

Well, can you or can you not figure out what she's trying to do, and who is in the cell? (Yeesh, I think I made it a little too obvious).

In any case, here's to Cloud getting fed up and beating the crap out of Reno. (It was the only way I could see any of the next stuff happening, or even keeping them alive longer. True, there hasn't been any monsters yet, but you know how that goes...)

_Please leave a snide remark after the rant!_

Geesh, can't I be better at hiding things?! Argh, I hate myself and stuff! (is being melodramatic like Vincent-kun)


	5. Jenova isn't so dormant

Chapter: Five - "Jenova isn't so dormant"

Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005

**Warnings:** R for Reno and Cloud's language, blood, malformed logic, Jenova, mild psychotica, and fate.

**Notes: **Whee what for the psychotic Cloud. This is not, however, my Psychotic!Cloud chapter. That would be .. um, well, some chapter in the future. I am almost certain this is not the most psychotica Cloud is planning to show.

,;;, This is an Ebil Scheme ,;;,

Bloodstained fingers twitched, chest heaving, yet it was like he couldn't breathe. Air rushed to and from his mouth, drying it quickly, eyes dull as he seemed to struggle to stay together. Almost as if at any moment, he could shatter, split into two different beings. His whole body trembled with nonexistent strain, skin slick with sweat, colors bright and blinding. His head slowly turned, regarding with dull eyes another man, unconscious, bloody, weak - vulnerable. Had been a threat, wasn't right now, disabled and in reach. Wouldn't be able to fight back. A challenge to continued existence eliminated.

He would be easy to kill.

At this point, exactly how much of that mind was Cloud's and how much was feral alien could have been questioned, and the balance decided against the man. The virus was at work in his blood, mild genetic variations were occurring, just enough to give an edge against the current threat. While the virus was not sentient, it would do what it had to survive, and genetic memory provided directions warning that greater genetic variations than were immediately need for survival would result in extinction. It needed to keep a low profile within its current host, assure that it did not violate this host as it had others - violation would lead to extinction. Keep this host unaware and unmolested until it regained its strength - there was no more of it to call to.

The world seemed to shift slightly, Cloud grabbed his head, ringing in his ears, and his vision was suffused in white. As the other episodes, this soon passed, and he relaxed, looking around. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was or why, or why that redhead was on the ground unconscious. He shook his head as though to clear it, preparing to run down a checklist he was all too familiar with.

"Wait ... I'm Cloud. I - I was kidnapped by ... by a scientist named Z ... she wants to further Hojo's research ... and the red-head is the touch-stone. That's ... that's Reno and ... Oh."

Cloud abruptly broke off, nodding to himself. No memories seemed to be missing or fuzzy, so he was probably remembering things correctly. There was no Tifa to set his mind straight - nobody, because the only witness was unconscious and Reno besides. He spent a moment pondering what he should do, looking around. "Can't stay here." he muttered. "I have to get to safety." He nodded to himself again, and headed toward Reno. It wouldn't really do to carry the man in his arms, or to sling him over his shoulder. More pondering eventually lead to Cloud heading through the brush with an unconscious redhead on his back.

"Dammit," he muttered sullenly, shifting the weight. "We're gonna have to do something about that hair. It's too damned bright for this forest. You're gonna call every damned monster with that wound and the hair to match."

He cursed again as a crimson ponytail fell over his shoulder, stands sticking to his sweat-covered neck. He couldn't stand that feeling - which is why he eventually cut off his ponytail when he'd gone into the forces (never mind the fact that he hadn't cut his hair since starting that crusade against Sephiroth and it was starting to grow long).

Cloud kept himself as preoccupied as possible watching out for any signs of monsters, and any sign of possible food. There didn't seem to be a promise of food coming from their 'sponsor', and so far Cloud hadn't seen any plants that looked like they were viable for eating. A few even looked like they might like to eat him. Ugh, he thought, _don't tell me she expects us to eat monsters? That's going a little too far, even for me, and I served in the army._

However, he tried to stay on main task, which was to find shelter and keep the idiot from bleeding to death. It was beginning to be too much trouble, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to put up with the man's tongue when he did wake up. With his luck, he knew the future lay in two directions: he was either going to save that idiot and regret it due to fighting, or he was going to end up attached to an invalid and have the man die. Or he himself would fall ill and the idiot would die.

"Oi, idiot, do you think you can survive this crap?" he questioned absently. "Sure, you grew up in the slums, but seriously, this is the fucking forest. More like Nibelheim than any damned Midgar." Well, actually, he realized that he didn't know what the redhead's hometown was. For all he knew, Reno grew up in Bone Village. "Not good." he muttered inanely. Nothing that idiot had been involved in was good as far as Cloud could see.

A sudden rumble of thunder above was barely begun and finished before the gods dumped half of the ocean on the island. Cloud's teeth gritted against each other as he scowled, water dripping off his hair and into his eyes. Cold water fell at a frantic pace from the sky, quickly chilling his bare arms, and causing his slight frame to shiver. Great, not only was the idiot half dead from blood loss, he was going to get pneumonia.

"That's it!" Cloud yelled, though he was drowned out by thunder. "I give! The fucker is going to die!"

Even as he spoke, though, the stubbornness that was an innate part of him let him know that if Reno was going to die, then Cloud was going to die in the processes of trying to revive the bastard. Damn him for having a conscious and listening to Aeris all those times! She was one of the reasons he wasn't such a 'bad-ass' anymore (according to Barret). He shifted his burden again until they were close enough to share at least a little body-heat.

Why in the hell did he have to get stuck out here in the middle of a downpour with the only person who might be scrawnier than him? If it would have been Barret, he wouldn't have enjoyed it one bit, but they might have made it out of this freezing rain alive. Hell, even Rude would have been large enough to be a reasonable source of body heat. Out of them all, though, Cloud had to admit he'd rather be stuck alone on a bloodthirsty island with Nanaki. The juvenile was mature enough not to annoy Cloud, and wise enough to help him make it; that tail would have come in handy also.

"Fucking bastard." Cloud muttered as he trudged through the mud, readjusting his grip on the man's arms and squinting against the wind and rain. "Bleeding all over me, too, I bet. You probably won't die just to spite me. I - what the ... "

Cloud paused staring blankly in font of his path. The brush suddenly stopped, and there was a wall of rock and dirt. He eyed it critically for a moment before deciding to investigate for any shelter.

Luck seemed to be bipolar where Cloud was concerned. After kidnapping him and dumping him on an island with Reno, lacking any weapon, armor, or materia, and then dumping half the ocean on him, it gave him shelter. It wasn't much, a small and deep depression in the rock and dirt. It would keep anything larger than the two frail men out, and it was deep enough to hinder anything with long limbs trying to get to them. Best yet, it was unoccupied.

The floor inside was dry and dirt, so it wouldn't suck away body heat as much. Cloud left Reno deep in the cave, and headed out into the rain. He came back shortly with large leaves from a nearby brush - wet, yes, but they would trap heat.

He glanced around the two of them for a moment, then decided on Reno's own jacket for bandages. It would have to do since Reno was the only one wearing any superfluous clothing.

It was cloth, and thus not that hard to rip. He quickly unbuttoned the redhead's shirt, and studied the wound. Blood was just slightly oozing out now, but it was an angry red and hot. Infected - of course the Turk just had to be difficult. He quickly set about wrapping the strips of dark blue cloth around Reno's chest, the red-head occasionally groaning, his forehead slick with sweat, strands of red hair sticking to his skin.

Cold air rushed into the small cave, and Cloud shivered violently, his soaked clothing doing little to keep him warm. The air ghosted over Reno's sweaty skin, and Cloud stared with mild fascination as the redhead's body reacted as could be expected. He quickly sat back on his heels and rubbed the back of his hand over his face, feeling slightly embarrassed. It was kinda like walking into the barracks and catching someone with a hard-on. Very embarrassing for the both of them, only Reno wasn't awake or in a state to even realize what the cold air had done to him anyway.

Cloud rolled back into his knees, determined to finish bandaging the man before he bled too much more. If they were lucky, the infection wouldn't get much worse, and it would only take a few weeks for it to heal -

Weeks.

Cloud's hands froze in the middle of tying a knot. They could be here for weeks. Just how long was Z intending to run this experiment anyway? Until one of them died! Sure, she had told Reno she'd reward him for getting off the island alive, but at what cost? Was that to goad Reno into killing him!

Somehow, he wouldn't put it past that bitch to do something like that. Reno had been awake before himself. What had they planned while he was unconscious?

No - no, that was ridiculous. Reno wouldn't be that easily sold out - he'd fought the man, he knew Reno. He knew what kind of person Reno was - Reno wouldn't be sold out simply because that would mean handing over power, right?

He wouldn't be that easy to kill. If it came down to it - he'd kill the ex-Turk.

But that wouldn't be needed, of course. It wouldn't come to that -

His vision went white momentarily, and he had to catch himself on his hands to avoid falling onto Reno. Confusion. What was going on? He hadn't episodes like that since -

But Sephiroth was dead. He had his memories! He shouldn't -

He wasn't, of course - wasn't having the same type of episode. Of course not - there was no reason for the Jenova to -

It was still inside him.

His gut was suddenly icy cold. He'd forgotten, but Jenova was still inside him - even though he'd killed every other being that had been infected with the Jenova virus, he'd forgotten that he was still alive - still had it inside him.

Had it woken back up?

No - he didn't have time to worry about it. First, he had to get Reno warm, and himself, and get them both off this island alive - hopefully without Reno getting infected. He would have to keep any wounds away from the other man. As long as any bodily fluid of Cloud's never got near a wound on Reno, the man would be fine - Jenova would not spread. Just had to take care of him long enough for the man to take care of himself, then it would be fine, they could keep five feet between the two of them -

Have to get that damned bastard warm, and healthy. That was it. Get Reno off the island uninfected, and everything would be dandy -

God, was Tifa infected? How many more could be at risk! How many more might have gotten infected -

He tied the last knot on Reno's bandages, and set to work getting the shirt - blood soaked as it was - back on him. There was a large rip were the transmitter had been shot in, though it was probably also ripped from Cloud's own hand. He hated how cold it was, hated how close it was going to force them, and heaved a sigh. Leaves, no matter how large, were crappy covers, but they would trap heat. It had worked before.

He settled down beside the Turk, curling to preserve body-heat, his arms cold as he faced away from Reno.

-Might have gotten infected ... because of him?

: R for Reno and Cloud's language, blood, malformed logic, Jenova, mild psychotica, and fate.: Whee what for the psychotic Cloud. This is not, however, my Psychotic!Cloud chapter. That would be .. um, well, some chapter in the future. I am almost certain this is not the most psychotica Cloud is planning to show. 

It was going to be a long miserable cold night.

,;;,Yes, this is still a boarder ,;;,

The first thing he was aware of was sensations; cold, wet, miserable, feverish - he was probably delirious, there was a headache trying to kill him, and someone's bony elbow was digging into his stomach. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it might have sounded - delusions were great at softening stuff like that - but still wasn't a great way to wake up. What kind of fucking party did he just have!

Cautiously, Reno peeked.

No fucking party, and damn was Blondie bony.

"Get the fuck offa me!" he snarled, and did something like a combination of a shove and kick. He wasn't quiet as pissed as he could have been to wake up curled up with Strife, but he was fairly certain that was because he was just a bit detached and not quiet able to think logically at the moment. That or he was slower after waking up than he thought he was.

"Hey!" Strife yelped as he tumbled across the ground, and took the heat with him.

"Fuck!" Reno shouted, grabbing at his own arms, and noted the fact that he was soaking. He was immediately icy cold, and the blond was staring at him blandly from a few feet away, sprawled in a semi-sitting fashion, large leaves all around him. Irritation quickly grew, the red head somehow uncomfortable being pinned under the unnaturally blue eyes. "You enjoying the view or what, Blondie?"

Strife stared for just a moment longer, then rocked into a full sitting position. "It hasn't stopped raining," he said instead of answering, turning to the light source. What? When had they gotten in a cave? "Your wound is infected."

"What tha-"

"Your wound." Cloud interrupted. "The present from psycho-bitch. The barbed transmitter? Ringing any bells? It's infected, and that's why you're feverish."

Reno glared at the man, probing at the bandages around his chest, hissing with pain. That bastard just had to use his jacket for medical purposes! Stupid ass! That jacket cost major gill, and he wanted repayment. "My jacket!" he snarled, and ignoring the painful stretching of the wound, climbed to his feet, fully intending to give that bastard 'what-for'.

"Get the fuck down, you idiot." Strife snarled, glaring. "I hauled your bloody ass all over that damned island through the rain and I'll be damned if you get us both killed now!"

"Aw, isn't that just dandy?"

"I could have left you."

"Don't kid _me_, Strife; you have a hero-complex."

"God dammit, Reno -"

They were cut off abruptly as there was the sound of crashing outside. Muscles coiled instinctively, freezing in place, eyes wide to accept any sign of movement. Reno felt more than saw Strife begin to shift back toward him, back toward the deepest part of the cave. At this moment, he really couldn't bring himself to blame blondie.

A loud sound of air, like something sniffing, made the redhead's hackles rise. The emotion that rushed through him was something like anger and fear, something that made him want to leap out and attack whatever was out there, and made him want to sneak away watchfully, know, so that next time he could kill it.

A cold chill worked its way into Reno's awareness - like adrenaline and danger and something's-going-to-get-you-so-you'd-better-fucking-run. You know that phrase? The one that goes something like, 'the best measure of a man's character is what he is in the dark'? When Reno glanced at Strife to mark the blond's progress, he felt a shiver go up his spine. That makou glow that only actually threw off light in the dark was glimmering like a lantern, body curled like a spring, his face emotionless.

With that monster outside, scenting them out, fear and anger thick in the air in the cave, Reno suddenly wasn't sure whom he'd rather face down. Outside was a monster with gods know how many limbs and claws and teeth, and inside there was a young man who was boarding on frail. Reno abruptly decided that if worse came to worse, he'd flee outside and hope the monster didn't get him.

He had his doubts about just how sane Strife was.

,;;, Boarders that aren't are scary,;;,

He had his nose buried in a book when he heard the foreboding clack of high heels. He sighed, setting the fictional work aside and spun in his chair, hands planted on the chair's edge between his legs.

"Yo, Z." he greeted the woman as she swept into the room. "Got another clone for me, or are you taking Beta back to his holder?"

Z grinned at him, humored for some reason. He wasn't sure yet if this time it would be a good thing or a bad thing. "I'm just coming back to make sure you aren't wasting again, Key."

He rolled his eyes and rocked back in the chair. "Hey, I learned after the last time not to make clones without being certain I have enough materia. She could have been pretty…"

"I'm certain you think so. But no more toys, Key. I've finally gotten everything set up, and my work is underway."

Key cocked a copper eyebrow at her, gray eyes suspicious. "Your children again?"

"Of course." Z answered, heading toward the table to which Beta was strapped down. She brushed dark hair from her face, peering down at him. "Still asleep?"

"Gotta remember he doesn't have the years under his belt that the original has." Key said idly, spinning around in the chair. "He's weak. I bet the original was just as bad."

"Do you think?" Z asked, looking back at him, sounding curious. "That may explain some things…"

"Sure thing, boss."

Z ruffled the ginger-haired boy and headed back toward her bedroom where Alpha was still being held. Key snorted after her, glancing over at the blond on the table.

"You're damned lucky that she isn't like that psycho Hojo. She really looked up to him."

No reply was forthcoming. Key's curiosity was perked, and he set his rubber shoes against the floor, pushing off lightly and coasting toward the clone on the table. "Oi, you were awake last time I checked - if you wanna call that awake…"

He came to a stop next to the table, staring at the teen's face. "Hey, Beta…" he called, poking the kid's leg. The flesh was cool to the touch, but his chest still rose and fell. "Cold . . . did you pass out or what?"

He stared for a bit longer before kicking out and rocketing back toward his desk. "You give me the fuckin' creeps, man!" he complained loudly. "No matter how damned hot you are! I wish that bitch would take you back to your damned tub!"

Key shuddered with anger, gnawing on his bottom lip. "Damned borderline…" he huffed, turning back to his book. "I ain't taking no damned pills for it. Got my book, that works."

The words were blurred though, and he was greatly irritated by the boy on the table. He suddenly jerked into motion, throwing the book across the room.

"I'm getting some fucking coffee!" he snarled, and disappeared from the room.

Back on the table, eyes opened and stared bitterly after him.

,;;, TOBECONTINUED,;;,

Whee! for Jenova-induced psychotica! Yay! for doubting Cloud's Sanity! w00t for Reno refusing to refer to Cloud by his first name! Yipes! for scary gay-teenaged-henchmen! With Personality disorders! And… stuff. X.x

Dun worry, if you don't know who all these clones and strange men are yet, you'll find out soon enough!

Yes, there is no sex/attraction/yaoi-goodness yet. That is on purpose. And don't expect any love confessions. Cloud might to the right person, but Reno would give her/him weird looks because the other person would eventually have to ask for it.

Mruph, expect more paranoid!Cloud and bitchy!Reno.

Reno: Why are you cussing so much anyway?

Cloud: I'm a big boy - I get to cuss. And you're a bad influence.

Reno: And we _all _know how easy it is to influence Prickles, here.

Cloud: ... **_DIE_**! (pounces. They fight)

e.e They're being stupid again.

Please leave a snide remark after the rant!

Yes, Cloud cusses like a sailor. Thank gods that is not an evil part of the military like SOLDIER is. (giggles hysterically.) I guess Barret would want to be a part of SAILOR. (falls over laughing)

Is there a law against killing QuickEdit for messing up my fanfic?


	6. Mistakes and Jenova

Chapter: Six - "Mistakes and Jenova"

_Last Edit Date: 01.10.2005_

**Warnings**: R for Reno, mild Insanity, general Strangeness, and going over stuff we already know.

**Notes**: (stares) ... This is the chapter in which things were written horribly dark and psychotic, but had to be rewritten because I suddenly remember that Reno isn't some violent bitter person. So, now its not so bad. n.n;;

**,;;, Are you an Ebil Scheme,;;,**

Reno was nerve-wrecked. The creature outside had long since left, but he still wasn't ready to relax around Strife the mental case. Sure, the man had calmed down once the creature left, and was now slouched against the cold rock wall, studying his bare feet and breathing shallowly, but that didn't mean that Reno was any more assured about his sanity.

The silence weighed heavily on the air, the two men on opposite sides of the cave. Suddenly, Strife took a normal breath, which made his whole body rise, and turned passive blue eyes on him.

"Relax, would you? Its not like I'm eager to kill you."

"Like you could." Reno retorted without thinking.

Blue eyes flashed, but Cloud was still sitting in a relaxed way. His lips suddenly twisted in something between a snarl and a grin. "You wanna know why that bitch has me out here? Unless I'm mistaken, you're out of the loop."

"Does it look like I really give a damn?"

"It looks like you think I'm gonna go psychotic any moment and eat your brains - but maybe that's just me."

"Its just you. Personally, I thought you'd go psychotic and somehow end up in an orange tutu."

"Can you get any more random?" Strife asked, but had yet to let up the demented grinning. "Five years, you know? It isn't easy living with those memories. Well, I guess its not easy living with Sector Seven on your soul, either."

"Stop trying to act like you know me, Prickles." Reno said passively, eyes half-lidded. Cloud had hit a nerve, but he would damn himself if he let the bastard know it. "Please, continue with your little 'I'm-The-Victim' story."

"Reno, I swear, if you don't shut your fucking mouth -"

"You love the sound of my voice and you know it."

Strife was nearly seething over in his corner. "Not the time, Reno. I don't have my goddamned sword."

"What's that got to do with the price of bull-balls in Wutai?"

"You're loosing your touch, Red. The orange tutu was much more random."

"Damn." Reno muttered, untouched. If he got anymore apathetic he'd be - well, Vincent.

"Question about that tutu thing . . . do you have a thing about guys cross dressing?"

"Askin' the wrong guy - I never went into Don's Mansion in a dress," he said, smirking. Cloud gave him the dirtiest look anyone not hideous had ever given Reno. "But since you asked, at one point I thought it would be hilarious to see Rude in a red dress."

"What?"

"You know, the really scary one, like Scarlet wears? Red with sequins! Though lets hope they don't have one in Rude's size with a slit that high. Don't tell me you never got pissed at Mr. Gun-arm and put him in a dress?"

"Not exactly, no."

"Ah, but something like it, huh?" Reno asked, leaning forward. "Com'n tell me! What was it?"

Strife got slightly red. "I'd prefer not to share. Its more than a little disturbing."

"There isn't much that can disturb me, Prickles. Tell me anyway."

The blond gave him a long look, obviously weighing the options. "Alright then, you asked for it. Lingerie of your choice."

There was an instant mental image, and suddenly all Reno's internal organs decided to have a mosh pit. He gagged, and choked for a moment on his own saliva, turning red and coughing harshly. Disgust was immediate and lingering. "Fucking god, Strife! You're more twisted than I am!" he choked out, and gagged a bit more. "That's fucking disgusting!"

"I know." the blond said dryly, watching him with half-lidded eyes. "I warned you."

"Just who in the hell fucked up your mind that bad?"

"Would you believe Aeris?" Strife asked, tilting his head. "She's the one in pink with a thing for guys cross dressing."

Reno blinked a few times. "Seriously?"

"You wouldn't believe how many times she begged me to put it back on. She carried that damned dress and wig up until her - until the Forgotten City." Strife muttered, and Reno heard how he stuttered at the mention of the Centra's death. Damn! And just when they'd gotten a good banter going!

"Did ya do it?" he quickly asked, just to see if he could keep the blond talking.

A golden eyebrow arched. "Would you have?"

"I-" Reno cut himself off, frowning. On one hand, there was a happy hot chick - on the other, there was disturbing cross-dressing. "Well . . . " He screwed up his face, considering.

"That's what I thought." Strife interrupted. "We've run your little tangent now. Do you want in on the loop, or are you happy being completely clueless?"

Reno snorted, leaning back against his wall. "Nah, I got my entertainment; spill your guts as you please."

The blond glared at him for a moment, and Reno knew it would start with Sector Seven again. "As guilty as you feel about that plate falling, you aren't the only one with that on your shoulders - I didn't used to be the only one with those five years on mine."

"What in the fucking hell are you babbling about?"

Strife suddenly stopped staring at him, leaning his head back against the stone. "Why do you think I'm used to damned scientist hijacking my life? Five years . . . That's a long time to spend in a damned vat of makou-cocktail, you know."

Reno stared blankly at Strife. Makou-cocktail . . .? This wasn't going to go in a nice direction.

"You're in Shin-ra. You should know that Nibelheim burned down. You should know that Shin-ra rebuilt it."

It was true enough. He'd never been overly interested in that project, but he'd know about it - Turks had been involved.

"I was there when it happened. Hojo had a lot of fun to put it mildly."

Hojo! This really wasn't going in the best direction it could have.

"He was a SOLDIER. Hojo was the one that created the SOLDIER project, but he finally got to test past logical limits - I'm surprised he wasn't driven mad." Strife's voice was hollow.

"Hojo is also the reason he lived that long." Reno prodded cruelly, still not sure who 'he' was. He was disturbed by how impassive Strife was being about something that should have been emotional. He got the response he wanted.

"Hojo!" Strife was on his feet, glaring down at the injured man; his chest heaved, his eyes bright. "True enough." he spat bitterly. "But he's also the reason he's dead."

Reno watched the blond pace around a bit, wondering just how much more he would spill. From what he understood, Cloud wasn't really one to talk, and yet there he was, babbling away.

"I never made it to SOLDIER, you know that? I thought I had gotten - not me, it was him. We got away from Hojo, and then - Hojo hates mistakes, miscalculations. He decided it wasn't worth it and - Z wants to further his research."

Reno was having a hard time following Strife's words; the man kept cutting off sentences and starting in the middle of others. However, he had understood the main point - that Strife had spent five years under Hojo's blade. "And what research is that?" he asked, figuring he might as well get the whole story.

Strife stopped pacing suddenly, turning to him and crossing his arms. "You know how Sephiroth went mad. But the thing that made him that way - Sephiroth was Hojo's son. Hojo injected Sephiroth with the Jenova virus when he was a fetus. You know what the Jenova virus is, right?"

"Never needed to." Reno snapped. "I just gotta follow orders, not understand them." That was one bad thing about Elena. She wanted to stick her nose where it was liable to get shot off.

Strife sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Long story short, a rock fell from the sky. Had a virus on it. Infected the Centra - god, I hope I don't have to explain them - and wiped out most of them. In humans, its been known to give unnatural strength and stamina - its hard to kill the Jenova infected. Like pumping Turks full of makou - nuclear powered cockroaches, can't kill them _and _they kick your ass. This virus isn't exactly intelligent - it grows and feeds. Forms a symbiotic link with its host, and then takes the host over. There's a thing call Jenova reunion - virus gets lonely, I guess."

"And this has what to do with you?"

"I kill the things that are infected to stop a repeat of Sephiroth and Meteor. But there's a slight problem with that." Strife's shoulders suddenly slouched, and he could only raise them long enough to shrug. "I'm infected, too. That's why Z likes me so much."

This was not all that good. Not good at all. "So we're sitting around waiting for this thing to eat _your _brain?"

"Hardly. I'm an endangered fucking specie. As long as Jenova isn't spread, it won't be able to do diddly crap. The concentration of cells in a human can only reach so high before the host croaks, and the virus knows better than to do that. But if it spreads, then there will be enough of it for it to try to destroy the world again."

"You sure know a fucking lot of stuff on this thing."

"Morbid curiosity. If you had a damned virus living in your body and making itself at home, I think you'd find out everything you could about it."

"This sheds an interesting light on Z's purposes." Reno said, grinning. "Looks like she's planning some kinda crap in that direction."

"Doesn't make sense though." Strife said, shaking his head. "She put me out here where I might get killed."

"Nah, she put you out here where you could get Jenova workin' on your system; put me out here so you wouldn't get completely feral."

It made too much sense to Reno, and that was when he knew he wasn't getting the whole picture. He felt like he did, which was never a good sign. He hated being used, and that was exactly what that woman was doing.

"Still, don't get near me with that wound. We don't need you infected." Strife said, moving back to his spot against the wall.

"Just two people, huh? That's all it would take for another reunion?"

"Well, actually, it would take a town-full. But more than me is more of a risk than I'm willing to take."

"Why in the hell hasn't someone put you down, then? You're the only one left with Jenova."

Strife glared at him, unnatural blue glimmering. "We don't know that for sure. Hojo didn't keep the greatest eye on the failed clones, I wasn't all that good at answering the summoning correctly - there's no telling how many others might have been the same."

"Failed - I remember that." Reno muttered, catching on that word. "Didn't they use to call you 'failure'?"

Perhaps saying that wasn't the best idea Reno ever had.

Every muscle on Strife's body coiled, standing up in sharp relief, pale skin stretched taunt across the thin frame. His eyes were bright, wild, lips pulled back into a grinning snarl. "Funny that a failure is the last one standing, huh, Reno? Funny that the original couldn't hold his own - fucking hilarious, ne? Got more scars than Seph', did ya know? Have more fucking scars than he ever did. Not everything went right - wasn't expected to survive. Tested operations on me first - don't kill the SOLDIER! More scars than Sephiroth - Seph never had scars. Last one, though - Fucking hilarious."

Reno stared for a long moment at the fever-bright blue eyes, somewhere between nausea and anger. He didn't know what to say in response to that rambling emotional ouburst, so he said the frist thing that came to mind. "Yeah, it really looks like you're laughing."

Strife didn't respond.

**,;;, This maybe a boarder, or a hallucination. Take your pick.,;;,**

"I should have guessed Subject One would do that." Z murmured, pacing. "Too bad he's the only viable choice."

"This would take a while anyway." the man behind the bars huffed. "You might as well have started from scratch."

Doctor Z smirked, turning to him and crossing her arms. "Really protective. That's a weakness, you know. But see, I've discovered that Jenova has a genetic memory. New Jenova cells wouldn't have that memory, they'd go berserk as in Dr. Hojo's case."

"You have to admit that was hideous. How many times did you watch the tapes anyway?"

"I need my data, you know."

"Sure, whatever. Com'n, seriously. The kid has had enough happen to him - is it all that necessary to add more?"

"He's the only specimen I have." Z said, returning to her chair. "He has the will to survive, and Jenova has thoroughly infected him. He'll be harder to kill than a makou-powered flea."

"Nice metaphor. You should try writing poetry."

"Thanks, honey. I've been thinking - what kind of woman do you think Subject One would be most likely to infect?"

The man's eerie bright eyes widen incredulously. "You're kidding me - you're trying to start a breeding program?"

"Not exactly - that's not how I plan to spread the virus anyway. I'm just trying to look out for my children's happiness."

"Whatever." he heaved a sigh. "I thought you had his records?"

"Of course I do, but that woman - Tifa, wasn't it- Just isn't suitable. She wants him more than he wants her. No, I think I'll have to find someone more like that Centra. She was his type."

The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes, looking at his shoes. That tugged a slight memory. Something about an older girlfriend? Information taken in passing, he hadn't really been paying attention - hadn't really focused on that.

"You're remembering something, Subject Alpha?" Z asked, perking up and heading toward him. "I thought I had most of those personal memories locked . . ."

"Nah, I got indigestion - listening to you will do that." he said grinning. "But really, how much could knowing my own name hurt? You could at least give me that - you let me remember my training."

"Oh, Alpha, if I do that then you'll have issues." Z tsked, crossing her arms. "I always look after my children."

"Then what about that poor bastard?"

Z didn't even have to follow his gesture, her own eyes having spent plenty of time on that corner. "Beta? He's fine. Never was as good as you, but he will live."

Almost as if he knew they were talking about him, the boy in the makou-filled tub stirred, his eyes almost opening but never quiet made it. He settled back into a restless dream, and Alpha's hand clinched.

"Why'dya make him, anyway? Why do you keep him alive?" he asked almost plaintively. "You don't really need him!"

"True enough - I have the original." Z allowed, turning back to him. "Think of the boy as a fail-safe. If One actually dies, then I'll have Beta to work with. I'm just working on adding the final touches to Hojo's experiment. He's almost ready for Jenova."

The dark-haired man's hands twisted the cloth on his legs, gritting his teeth. "You have to put him through that again?"

"Please. Hojo was messy - no finesse. Beta won't have half the scars, and it'll only take hours."

"Why didn't you just go ahead and clone that damned red-head while you were at it?"

"Two? No reason to do it. He'll die - accident on that island, or the first victim to my children. Cloning does take an ungodly amount of resources, though Key seems to like it. He has such fun recoding DNA . . ."

"That little scrawny bastard?" Alpha snarled. "The psycho with the books?"

"Calm down, dear. He's just a borderline. Those books are what keep him from being a homicidal maniac. Terribly bright, though."

"Watch out - he might overthrow you."

"Key is just a child. He has no interest in doing something that would take that amount of work yet. Besides, I buy the materia and chemicals he needs to create his little toys."

"Toys - wonderful." Alpha snorted. "I don't know which one of you are worse."

"True enough. Key doesn't want to change the world." Z said easily. "I really need to find him a more permanent mate - keep him busy."

Alpha glared at her for a bit. "Do you have any clue what Reno and Cloud are up to?"

Z smiled brilliantly at him. "Of course. I believe they're talking about cross-dressing."

Alpha gave her a long hard look. "Cross dressing?"

"Yes. Though One does know quiet a bit about Jenova - I'm impressed."

"I don't blame him." Alpha remarked, turning his gaze back to Beta, lips tight in a disapproving grimace.

"You wouldn't," Z purred. "But isn't Beta turning out nicely? Hardly any scars, just like I said."

The dark-haired man didn't respond, jaw clinched in anger.

"Not the kind you can see, anyway."

**,;;;, This may be a boarder - you don't know,;;,**

Hunger was the thing that finally forced them from the cave, eyes darting, paranoid. Cloud was bristling, not sure what he should keep more of an eye on - the forest or the redhead. For his part, Reno was being quiet, watchful, though it was clear that his arm was sore.

Not good, if he can see the weakness, others can see it too.

The wounded and sick, right?

. . . Get taken out quickly . . .

No. He'd have to save the fucking bastard if it came down to that. Couldn't let this get a hold of him. He'd survived up to Midgar simply because of this feral side, but it didn't mean he could sink into it now. Priorities, priorities! They had to find food and water. He was already parched, and didn't want to think how bad his fevered companion was.

"Have the hallucinations started yet?" he prodded, worried about how silent the Turk was being.

"You live to see me ranting at illusions, don't you?"

Cloud snorted, giving the damned bastard an ugly look. "Yes, of course, Reno. That's what gets me off at night."

"I knew it!"

"I bet it gets you off at night, too."

"I - what?"

Cloud stopped walking, turning to look at the staring redhead. He arched a golden eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't have narcissism issues."

"I may or may not, but I don't jerk off to thoughts of myself, thank you very much." Reno said, looking vaguely put-off.

"Then whom do you jerk off to?"

"Aren't you a nosy bastard?"

"Well, I just figured that with your ego, you couldn't find anyone that you thought measured up."

"Its that kind of logic that ends in a cold bed." Reno tsked, shaking his head. Cloud's eyes were draw inexplicably to the flashing whirling ponytail.

"Cold and safe." Cloud retorted. "I've never woken up to find the woman stealing my wallet."

"That only happened twice!" the redhead was quick to say. Then he frowned. "Hey, how'd ya-"

"Lucky guess." Cloud remarked, grinning broadly at Reno. "Gotcha."

The other man stared at him incredulously for a moment, and then shrugged, smirking. "I'm gonna have to watch myself, aren't I? You never used to do crap like that."

"I suppose, if you want to. And hanging out with Yuffles will do that to you." he said, walking again.

"Yuffles? Who - the kleptomaniac girl? Yuffie?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Strife, last time I checked she was jail-bait."

"Wha?" Cloud sputtered, spinning to the other man. "No! I haven't screwed her! I don't wanna screw her!"

This time Reno arched his eyebrow. "Oh? Prove it - she's a damned tease, you know."

Cloud groaned, shaking his head. "She's just not might type, okay? You try talking to her when she's drunk - she says some damned kinky stuff that I would prefer not to get involved with."

"Oh?"

Cloud stopped again, glaring over his shoulder. "Don't get ideas, Reno. She might be legal, but I swear I'll kick your ass if you touch her."

"Possessive, aren't we?"

" ... She rubbed off on me more than I'd like to acknowledge."

"Well, okay, then, if you don't like her, then who do you like?"

"For the love of - Reno, you have a one-track mind, don't you?"

"Pretty much. I love every second of it."

"Please don't share." Cloud requested, though his lips were still strangely tugged into a smirk.

"But seriously! Who do you like? Tifa?"

"Not really."

Reno arched both eyebrows in surprise. "Damn. I could have sworn ... "

"Probably, if it were up to her. I dunno, though - she's not who I thought she was."

"Well, if it's not Tifa, and its not Yuffie, then who? Wait - please don't tell me its Elena."

Cloud stopped, allowed his shoulders to slump, and then turned. "No, and please shut up. I stand on my decision not to feed the cute little monsters, okay?"

"But you still haven't answered, and I'm curious."

"Reno…"

"Its harder to get a straight answer out of you than it is to get one out of Rude!"

Cloud shook his head and trudged on. "Shut up so we can find some food."

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

w00t what for the Reno Cloud Banter! Yay what for Z taking things out of context! Whee what for teh Key! (for some reason, I like him). Did you guess who the clones are yet? I think its pretty obvious at this point. Agh! what for Z having complexes and calling Cloud, Reno, and the clones her children. X.x;; Boo! for the cliched!Reno-SectorSeven-angst-thing! And for long sections of dialog! (Gods, its hard for me to make those two shut up and do something. X.x) Is it just me, or is Reno and Cloud's relationship kinda bipolar? Its like:

Reno: I hate you.

Cloud: I tolerate you.

Reno: ... Don't leave me!

Cloud: Don't touch me.

Reno: I'm bored.

Cloud: We're off to see the wizard! (They skip)

Justi: O.o

OUTTAKE!

"Well, if its not Tifa, and its not Yuffie, then who? Wait - please don't tell me its Elena."

Cloud stopped, allowed his shoulders to slump, and then turned. "No, and please shut up. I stand on my decision not to feed the cute little monsters, okay?"

"But you still haven't answered, and I'm curious."

"Reno ..."

"Its harder to get a straight answer out of you than it is to get one out of Rude!"

Cloud: (blushing) No, I'm serious, its you.

Reno: ... I repeat - its harder to get a **straight **answer out of you -

Fair warning - This was a onetime outtake. This is not gonna be like "Dream Carefully" which has outtakes after every chapter.

_Please leave a snide remark after the rant!_

Rant Bad, BAD Justi what for being like everyone else and insisting that the characters are not (gods forbid) _gay_! Nah, they can't be gay, even though they are-attracted-to/have-had-sexual-relations-with all the male cast and a few crossovers!

I'm sorry, I do happen to believe Cloud is gay. Not because he never tries to go after the two females drooling on him (because, really, saving the world and killing the guy that tried to kill my ex would distract me from any other hotties around), but because of this episode on the sub. Really. Have Cloud, Vincent, and Nanaki as your party and go to the sub to get the huge marteria, and Cloud has a claustriphobia attack when he sets foot in the sub. The moment Vincent tells him to calm down, he jumps up immediately saying somethng along the lines of, "I'm better now, thanks". That kinda hit me in the head as a cry for attention, but maybe that was just me. /Rant


	7. Everything that Falls

Chapter Seven - "Everything that Falls"

_Last Edit Date: 01.03.2005_

**Warnings**: R for Reno, Weird going ons, budding sexual tension, and _Everyone _molesting Cloud in some fashion or another.

**Notes**: This is my ItDidn'tTurnOutAsPervertedAsIWanted!Chapter. How did I manage to make something so perverted and/or sexy so mundane? Dammit ... I had big plans for this chapter. Obviously, I tied for it to be sexiful, but as you see, I failed miserably. A writer of less than half my calaber could have made this a perverted chapter. (cries)

**,;;, Thus begins the Horror ,;;,**

"This is the strangest fruit I have ever seen." Reno complained. They had walked for most of the day, and found nothing - luckily, nothing had found them also, and good news was that Reno was doing better. It was almost boring, and thus Reno hadn't shut up for longer than ten seconds the whole time, and he was parched, feverish, and sore in places he didn't think possible. Worse, he was sweaty, covered in mud and bark, hungry, and Strife had handed him an object that he eyed with more than a little disgust. It was all sharp angles that didn't hurt his palm, covered in velvet fuzz the color of some of the more toxic makou slime he'd seen, and the damned thing smelled like sweaty socks. There was no way he was going to get that any closer than a foot.

"It tastes like banana."

Reno looked up to find Cloud licking rivulets of juice off his fingers, the fruit in his hand missing a chunk, revealing pale pink flesh. The blond quickly caught onto the fact that he was being watched, and gave a shrug.

"Poison or starvation, take your pick." he said, grinning before he took another bite out of the fruit. It made the most disgusting squishing noise Reno had ever heard.

"You're stupid. Desperate and stupid," he complained, and bit into his own. Strife was wrong - it wasn't banana. Well, it sorta was, but it was more like banana bubblegum - if that even existed. The texture was odd - like kiwi, and he was surprised to find out that the flesh smelled more like candy than the sweaty socks. "This is the strangest fruit - it is not banana anyway."

"What?" Cloud blinked at him. "Really? Then what do you call it?"

"Not-banana."

"Oh, such wit. Gimme a chunk of yours." Cloud demanded, digging his fingers into his own fruit far from where he'd been eating.

Reno shrugged, following suit. They exchanged the dripping flesh, and promptly made interesting discoveries.

"Mmph, I guess you're right." Cloud said as he tried to catch all the juices trailing down his hand and arm with his tongue. "That one does taste different - looked a bit oranger, too."

"I still say you're hallucinating."

"Please tell me it doesn't get you off at night."

"I - what?" Reno stuttered, caught blind-sided. He ended up giving the man a weird look.

Strife blinked at him. "It was a reference to - oh, forget it." he grumbled with disgust, stuffing the rest of the fruit into his mouth and turning away.

"You know, having your cheeks puffed out is so appealing, Strife."

"I wasn't trying to be." the blond snapped over his shoulder, swallowing hard enough for Reno to notice how much effort it took.

"Careful, don't choke. If you die, then I'll have to find a cave on the other side of the island until the creatures eat you."

"And of course I live to give into your every whim."

"Now you got the idea."

"Reno ... shut up."

Reno allowed himself a triumphant grin before continuing with his fun. "Hey, Strifey! You know, its great that you're a cat and all, but I'm all fucking sticky now." he complained, just to make the blond more irritated. It almost went without saying that he was much more pleased with the relationship now than before - being around a bitchy Strife is fun, but only when you have the choice of fleeing when the line was crossed- which notably, Reno did not have. However, with tolerant Strife, you could annoy the hell out of him, and all he'd say is 'shut up'.

"So basically you want a bath."

"Basically."

"Gods, my hair is still wet from the rain, and you want a bath?"

"Not a cat, remember? You can lick yourself all you want to, I want a bath." Reno said stoutly. Strife blinked and arched an eyebrow at him. For a moment, Reno caught himself wondering inanely if it was possible to pull a facial muscle. He must be more feverish than he thought. "Alright, if I can't have a bath, then can I try to bring this fever down a bit, huh?"

Then, for the oddest moment, there was a flicker of something across Strife's features - like a shadow of something not quiet cold. The hairs on Reno's nap stood at attention, and an icy chill ran a bony finger down his spine. Yipes! Strife had entered the psycho zone again. Damned mood-swingy bastard - or should that be sanity-surfing? Then, like lightening, it was gone.

"Whatever." Strife grunted, and turned away, striding off.

Note to self: Don't mention weakness.

**,;;, Since when did you notice,;;,**

Key was very irritated, and for once he was quiet certain it was not just his borderline disorder acting up. His skin crawled like it did when something was going to happen, and he couldn't focus on the computers that constantly monitored the two subjects on the island. For the longest time, he'd been fascinated by the developments and vital signs, but he was far to agitated to be distracted by that. He spun around his chair in an irritated fashion, chew on his bottom lip before he jumped off the chair, the copper tang only making him nauseous.

"Goddamit!" he swore, storming around the room. He turned suddenly, his eyes fixing on Beta who - though strapped down to the table - was regarding him as though he'd gone insane. "Beta!" Key snarled, storming over to the clone.

He climbed up onto the table, crouching above the young man, glaring down at him accusingly.

"What are you - Key!" Beta cried out in alarm.

"You planned this, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, you psycho!"

Key glared a moment longer before getting distracted once more. He glanced around the room before finally deciding to sit on his 'hostage'. "Of course you do, I know you do." he snapped. "You know it, you feel it - there's something going on."

Key abruptly stood, hands on his hips. He stalked down the length of the table, to stand between Beta's feet. "You know, One is having an awful lot of fun, I bet."

"What do you mean?"

Key blinked, looking down into those brilliant blue eyes. "He's stuck down there with that drop dead sexy red-head. I know Two's type - they don't really give much of a damn about gender. Then again, I bet One doesn't either - not with the psychological damages the two of you've gone through."

Beta blushed a violent red, writhing in his bonds, but it was a useless struggle. "One wouldn't sleep with Two!" He yelled.

Key grinned, turning back to face the kid, bending over to put his hands on his knees. "Why not? Don't you wanna 'sleep' with Alpha?"

The blond flushed and even deeper red and started snarling, twisting violently in his restraints. Key giggled to himself, and hopped off the table and out of tripping range. Had Beta not been as messed up in the head, Key might have enjoyed the sight of a slender naked blond writing and fuming, but as it was, the red-head was just agitated and a little disturbed. He was enjoying the control, but it was all cold inside, and the abuse left him hollow.

"Now, now, gorgeous, I wasn't trying to imply that you're - gods forbid - _gay_! I'm just trying to say that maybe you'd like to ... experiment?"

"Don't you dare touch me!" Beta nearly howled.

Key scoffed, sauntering back to his chair. "No, no, not with _me_. You're not my type - sexy, yes, but not my type."

"You sick bastard!"

The teen just snickered. "Aw, I'm sorry that you think that way - really, though I bet you could be convinced otherwise - again, not by me. I don't mix work and pleasure, and you being a clone ... well, I'm sure you get the picture."

"I hate you! You're disgusting!"

"I could always recode your DNA - I could change that."

Beta seethed on the table.

Key giggled a bit, sitting down in his chair and pushing himself back over to the table, coasting easily. He loved to torment the poor boy, but there was something else inside him that also hated what he was doing. "Don't be like that! I won't touch your precious little sequences! Z told me not to."

He reached down and patted the wild blond hair almost fondly. Beta seethed with anger before he suddenly began to have an emotional meltdown, and thick tears began to leak down the sides of his face. Key continued his actions, face blank, catching the salty water with his fingertips and wiping them off on his shirt.

"What's she gonna do to me? I - I don't want any more of this…"

"You're not gonna like it at all, B. I won't lie, its gonna be bad - and your original is involved."

Beta shuddered on the table. "Don't - get the fuck away from me!"

Key withdrew his hands, grabbing onto the edge of his chair between his knees, and began rocking from side to side, staring at the clone. "Its gonna hurt like hell, and there's nothing you can do" sing-songing again. Key hates it when he does this, but can't stop. "And then things will get really bad - she'll do it to Alpha, even though I told her - I _told _her! Its gonna _kill _Alpha! The virus can't tell the difference -"

"_SHUT UP_!" Beta shrieked, fighting against the restraints. "Shut up, you psycho!"

He shoved away on the table, rocketing back to his desk, and then began to spin in circles. "Its gonna kill him! She's trying to kill the toy!" He couldn't quiet catch his breath - these were the episodes during which he usually took his medicine just to make it **_stop_**. "Not another one, Z! I tired so hard! I tried so hard on him - used so much - and now you're gonna kill him? It took so long to create him"

"Stop it, Key! **_Shut up_**!"

Key jammed his feet down onto the floor, jarring the chair to a halt as the rubber stuck on the metal. "I don't want her to kill my toy - I made him special! I made him - and she's gonna…" he slouched. "I don't want her to kill my toy. Not that one - 'cause I made him special."

"Then stop her, you idiot!"

Key giggled nervously. "I made him special, and she doesn't know - doesn't need to know…"

Blue eyes - bright with anger and fear - glared at him. "What did you do to him? What makes him special?"

Key grinned absently. "It took so long - didn't just clone him - I brought him _back_."

"Brought him - what?"

"Alpha isn't a clone - that's Zack."

**,;;, Since when did you care,;;,**

Mildly surprising - as far as he was concerned anyway - he had hit the water before Reno. It was chilling, and he dunked under to get his hair wet, coming back up gasping for breath and wading further out.

He'd heard-felt-smelt the stream long before they'd found it, insisted that if they were going to bath that they do it at the mouth were it emptied into the ocean. Reno had been 'nice' enough to decide Cloud was allowed to be a little obsessive-compulsive every once in a while. The blond snorted at the memory, shaking his head a little to get rid of extra water.

He vaguely heard and kept an ear on Reno's splashing entry into the water, looking out over the ocean, studying it for any sign of anything. He was more than a little paranoid, but with a wounded man in the water scattering the blood-scent around, he had right to be. The water was blue and murky - not quiet as clear as he'd like it to be. A chill went up his spine, and he suddenly realized, just too late, that the splashing -

A weight landed on his back, and there was a disturbingly pleasurably slide of wet skin against him, making his knowledge of the scars that littered his back extreme as they felt nothing. He opened his mouth to shout in indignation, and got a mouthful of water instead.

At least they were still in the river far enough that it wasn't saltwater.

He twisted in Reno's grasp, throwing his head back to break the surface of the water, gasping in air. It was basically undeniable that his next words would be as they were.

"GOD DAMMIT YOU STUPID FUCKING BASTARD!" he shrieked, and was dragged back under the water. He grasped at the man, scrabbling to find a hold and failing as his calloused fingers slid over slippery flesh. Once again, he managed to break surface, and snarled when he realized Reno was laughing. That goddamned -!

His hands found holds on the man's arms, his feet digging into silty sand, and he _pulled_.

For a moment he went stiff as bracing hands slid across his chest, leaving trails of prickling flesh -again, his scars feel nothing, and he resented it. A quick twist and turn, and he was out of the red-head's reach, backing away toward the other bank, the swirling water only up to his abdomen

Reno surfaced gasping for breath, shaking his head and chuckling. "Damn, jumpy as ever, huh?"

"What in the hell did you expect?" Cloud growled, and planted his back firmly against the bank, cold sandy mud and roots tickling his back. His hand found a gape in the wall, and though he kept a weary eye on Reno, he explored it with his hand. "Dammit, we're on a damned killer island, and you wanna act like an idiot?" The gap turned out much bigger than he expected, and it turned out that the back near his shoulders was actually an overhang.

"I still say you're hallucinating." Reno said, grinning as he crossed his arms over his chest. The bandages on his wound were sopping and slightly dark - probably still leaking blood.

"And I say that you've got a infected wound and then had a fucking party in water with gods know _what _in it!"

"You're concerned! How cute."

"I dun wanna drag you all over the island again, _that's _what I am." Cloud snarled. "And don't call me or anything I do cute." Left over issues that still weighed heavily on his subconscious - being smaller than other's his age hadn't been easy on him when he'd tried to get into SOLDIER. He was _NOT _cute, goddamnit. He didn't care what Tifa said.

If possible, Reno's grin just got bigger, the scars around his eyes crinkling, and he leaned forward slightly. "Alright then, would 'adorable' work for you?"

"What the - _NO_!"

"Well, you're gonna have to choose one or the other, Strifey, unless you'd like me to start referring to you as gorgeous or something along those lines. I've always sorta wanted to call someone 'yummy'."

Cloud's face had an immediate adverse reaction to that, and he took a very long moment to attempt at analyzing Reno, but had to give up as it only gave him a headache. "What in the hell are you on?"

"A fever. Water's lowering that pretty well, though." Reno said, sinking down to his neck in it. "Cooooold."

By this time, however, Cloud was ignoring Reno. He was extremely still, listening - shivers of danger danced down his spine, enough to distract him from the man that was subtly challenging him. "Reno, I think it would be a good idea to shut up and get over here."

"Huh? Why?"

Didn't have time to explain - Cloud sunk down into the water, pressing his back into the bank, his chin just barely submerged. He watched the brush with narrowed eyes, wishing he had something better to hide with. At least being sodden with water made his hair less noticeable.

The creature wasn't as disgusting as it could have been, considering that this was a new island and most living things here would still be unstable. It was huge, bulky, and slow moving. Walked on all fours - looked like an herbivore but with those teeth and claws, Cloud had his doubt.

Shit, would Reno _hide_?

As it was, the redhead was stock still, not looking at it. Did he really think that was going to help? Well, it was smarter than his other option, which would be to splash around in a panic.

Cloud watched with narrowed eyes as the huge beast lumber around the beach a bit. Dammit, if he had his sword, he might be able to kill the damned thing, but that amour all over its back looked tough, and he might not be able to get close enough with those claws anyway.

The thing started to move toward them, and paused at their clothing, snuffling. Any doubt of the creature's hostility was removed when it devoured Reno's bloody shirt. Cloud's eyes flickered over to Reno, and the bandage being underwater reassured him. But they were still sitting ducks, and it would only be a matter of time before that damned thing found them.

Pressure was building in his ears, and he wasn't quiet sure why. A dull thundering was slowly filling his skull, and there was a creeping crawling sensation of not quiet being right - like there was water under his skin. The world dulled and swam, blurring and fading in and out. He tried to focus on the Creature, knew enough that it was heading toward the water, but his limbs were starting to feel heavy, and there was a burning sensation along his spine.

Abruptly, everything went dark.

**,;;, Cuz I'm too seksy for my mouse,;;,**

She traveled quickly through the darkness of the cargo room like a shadow, leaving no trace of her passing. She'd long since alerted her friends, but it would be some while before they would be able to come and save them. She had to do what she could, and she knew that some were aware of her presence. Had to move quickly, silently had to -

She was going to get help from the others.

It shouldn't be hard to do - she knew that they were not happy as they were. It shouldn't take much convincing, and that boy -

A shiver shook her whole body, throwing her concentration. She held still, listening, watching, but it didn't seem like any one realized. That boy would be trouble - on one hand, he was very intelligent, and on the other, far more insane than anyone she'd ever had the 'pleasure' of dealing with. Gay, too, by the looks of it, so she couldn't use coy charms to get him on her side. Then she'd have to offered him something he wanted more than sex - that would be hard to figure out as the boy was clearly a sociopath.

She liked challenges.

**,;;, My Wacom's gonna leave me,;;,**

Doctor Z hovered over the machines excitedly. "Its happening, Alpha! He's doing it! Finally! He's _proven- _!"

Alpha sulked in his cage, feeling nothing but dread. If Z was this happy, nothing good could come of it. "So what?"

Z spun on her high-heel, beaming at him. "Tomorrow! I get to gather them up and set up for the experiment tomorrow! This is fantastic! One has surpassed all my expectations for him!"

Alpha didn't want to admit it, but he was resentful of this enthusiastic display. "And then you get to play with the two of them - terrific."

"Ooh! They'll be wonderful! If I were to raise Beta, and then splice their DNA - Oooh! The child would be _magnificent_!"

The dark haired man glared. "I don't understand just how much splicing you could do considering, but this is hardly a good idea. You make a child as powerful as that, can you imagine what kind of damage it would do because it isn't sane?"

Z giggled. "You worry too much, Alpha. I'm gonna go alert my men."

She nearly waltzed out of the room, leaving Alpha alone in the dark.

"And I should know - I have no power, but I should know ..."

There was knowledge just beyond his grasp.

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

WHEE! se;fivnhywer,a Hey, you just got told who Alpha was! Omfg, right? and I'm sure you can guess who Beta is, though I never went to much trouble to hide the idenities of either. n.n; Now you get to 'guess' and 'wonder' about who _she _is some more. Though, I know it really isn't that much of a challenge, but, you know ... n.n;;

Oh, and sorry for the potentially scary!KeyBeta thing there. Key is ... well, you know. n.n;

_Please leave a snide remark after the rant!_

Rant -- I mention spines so much because within the spine is a very important part of every creature's anatomy. It would only make sense - to me - that any extra sensory and changes would be 'felt' in the spine. -- /Rant


	8. Onward To Insanity

Chapter: Eight - "Onward To Insanity"

**Warnings**: R for Reno, Cloud, and budding Sexual tension. (giggles hysterically in the corner).

**NOTES**: Okay, I tried again, and yet still managed to fail. Not miserably this time, but pretty damned close. And then Cloud goes and decides to be psychotic on me. (cries in the corner).

**,;;,I'm not a lumberjack and that's fine with me! Oo ,;;,**

There was a dull thudding in his ears, rhythmic, hot. Comfortable - comforting - and it made him drift easily. And then it was like cold water in the face. He jerked back a few steps, gasping in for breath, and tripped over something soft and warm. He hit the ground ass first and yelped at the jolt of pain that went up his tailbone. He stared at the gigantic arm that was under his legs, and noticed that he was liberally splattered in blood and missing every article of clothing.

He sat up quickly, staring around. There were chunks of flesh everywhere; the ground was dappled with blood. He ran a sticky hand through his hair, breathing deep and wondering what in the hell was going on. For a frightening moment, he couldn't remember _anything_, his name, where he was, why, and what just happened.

"Well, that was certainly a display."

Cloud jumped slightly at the comment, zeroing in on Reno and subconsciously trying to cover himself. "What in the hell are you on about?"

Reno was grinning like a maniac. "I think I might actually be on something this time - more than a fever, anyway. I could have sworn that you just turned into a goddamned creature and decided to play rough with that thing you're sitting on."

He suddenly felt as though his stomach was full of lead. He slapped a hand to his mouth, but he already knew it was filled with coppery fluid. "Blech!" he spit, and gagged for a moment, feeling his stomach rebel - the world spun dizzyingly, and he was sick, knowing that most of his stomach's contents was blood. He suddenly understood why Vincent threw up so much after returning to his normal form, and didn't blame the man for his eventual suicide. He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to stand the ability to transform and come back with a stomach full of blood.

Cloud pushed himself to his feet, but didn't stand, crouched and slouched over, glaring at Reno. "I bet you did. It happens to the infected. Sephiroth mutated, Hojo mutated, Vincent mutated - real fun. Jenova really doesn't like to die, you know."

"Maybe so." Reno said - damned Cheshire grin - and gestured back toward the stream. "You wanna feed the cute little monsters?"

Cloud scowled for a moment longer, resenting Reno parroting, and stood, shoving by the redhead. On his way back to the stream, though, his face decided to light up light a spotlight, brilliant red - he passed it off as embarrassment about losing control of the thing inside of him. He splashed into the steam without concern about noise, far more than a little pissed at Reno. He quickly scrubbed the stick red stuff off his skin and out of his hair, doing his best to ignore the lack of feeling in his scars. He just barely caught the pants that were thrown at his head when he turned.

Cloud bit back a snide remark as he sloshed back to the bank, stumbling into his pants and snatching up his shirt from the sand. He didn't even bother putting it on, though, storming off. "Hurry up, would you?" he growled. He hated those scars, but didn't want to be blinded as he put on the shirt.

"Boy, you sure are pissy for someone that just slaughtered a monster with just your hands and mouth. I was so sure you'd be parading around and claiming you're indestructible."

"Reno!"

Pain sparked across his knuckles, but it wasn't from the hard bone of Reno's jaw. The man had grabbed his hand and jerked him into a tree trunk. An arm wrapped around his waist, and his arms were pinned behind his back, caught between the two of them.

This did not help Cloud's temper at all, and he writhed, trying to get free, but all this did was wrench his arms around painfully and made him painfully aware of the exact length of each scar on his back. It wasn't any use, of course - Reno was a Turk, and Turks knew techniques for hand-to-hand combat. He finally stilled, though he couldn't go limp with the position he was in. He panted slightly, his skin flushed with anger.

He was disturbingly aware of the press of every finger in his side, the feel of Reno's tee shirt scraping along his back as the other man heaved for breath. He didn't want to think about the increasing flush that covered his skin, or how air wouldn't stay in his lungs. His skin was prickling - almost like it wanted off him - and he was nearly shivering with the oddness of it all.

"Now, are you ready to calm down and not announce our existence to the island?"

Cloud growled in response.

Reno chuckled, and a chill raced across the blond's skin. Oh, _shit_.

**,;;, A Yaoi-uer is a great thing to be,;;,**

Doctor Z paced around the cargo hold anxiously. It was just hours before she could finally get her specimens, and then she could continue with her true intentions! While she was displeased about how long it was taking the men to get everything set up to catch and restrain the subjects, she knew there was no use hurrying the process - they couldn't have mistakes because One was now very dangerous. It wouldn't take much to upset the delicate balance of the Jenova Virus and Makou, throwing the specimen into genetic shock and possible death.

"Hojo had no finesse." Z lamented again. She could have created a specimen better than Hojo's - one not as instable. She intended to. "Massive forced evolution - it's for the better."

She had no expectations of living pass the spread of the virus. She knew her own sequences - they would not survive the infection. She'd die of genetic shock, like more than half of the remaining population. It was for the best - humans had escaped natural selection, and it was her job as a scientist to further the specie's survival and genetic strength.

Dr. Z barely acknowledged Key's existence because the boy had yet to do more than stand against a wall and scowl deeply. She was very aware that he was displeased with what she was doing, but she was sure he wouldn't try anything. He' be a fool to try - her men were much larger, faster, and stronger than Key, and she was in complete control of them. What could Key do, anyway? He was no fighter, and the most he might try was to run away. It wouldn't matter if he did, though, because no one would be able to escape the virus.

A cage dropped from gripping hands with a clang, and Z immediately turned into a tornado of anger and shouted insults. The men flinched under her words, dreading what she might do to them.

It wouldn't matter anyway. In a week, they'd all be dead.

**,;;, Would you like to have fun,;;,**

Key watched the insane woman chew out the eunuchs, frowning. He wasn't sure he knew what she was up to anymore. He did know for certain that she was going to infect Alpha and Beta, that Alpha wouldn't live through it, and that she was doing something in her bedroom with those machines that she refused to let him handle. Z never did stuff for herself beyond gathering data, and he knew that wasn't what was going on.

He was here to take care of and analyze the specimens and data, re sequence DNA as she requested, and mix up the serums that kept the muscle-bound idiots under control. They were there to take care of the dirty work, be it catch specimens or restrain new breeds of creatures on newly born Makou islands. A man that Key never actually saw mixed Key's borderline 'medication' and verified the data the teen analyzed and sorted.

His hands itched.

Key idly scratched his palms, turning to head back to his lab. Withdrawal was kicking in again, and he still hadn't found the time to sort out his own medication's components to grow the necessary proteins he'd need to kick the addiction he was purposely shoved into. He was really not liking were this was all going, and the more he thought about it, the more Beta's urging sounded like a good plan.

"Not really one to pull this sorta stuff," he murmured, listening to the echoing sound of his own footsteps. "But I'm less of one to let people control me."

Trailing after him, the girl grinned. She had her leverage.

**,;;, I knew it would be like this,;;,**

Reno couldn't stop laughing. The look on Cloud's face was priceless. Of course, he really couldn't see it right now, but that wasn't important. The blond was bound with the remains of Reno's jacket - wrist, ankles, and a gag. Really, he wasn't that heavy, and since Reno's body had long thrown off the infection, it wasn't much effort to carry him around slung over his shoulder. Cloud'd gone limp some time ago, idly swinging his body, which annoyed Reno to no end, but this was worth it.

The man started to slid off his shoulder again, and Reno huffed, jostling Cloud and tightening his grip on the blond's thigh. This invoked a string of muffled curses, and Reno grinned. It was all too fun to mess around with the blond when he couldn't fight back.

"I could make some witty caveman remarks, but I doubt you'd appreciate that." He purred. True enough, and Cloud growled around the gag. "You no fun, you know that? Well, actually you _are_, but…"

Cloud's body shuddered as he heaved an annoyed sigh.

"Hey, lighten up, we're here," the redhead said cheerfully, patting Cloud's calf.

He slid Cloud off his shoulder and onto the cave's dirt floor. The man hit with a muffled yelp, and glared up at him from his sprawled position. Reno grinned at him, propping his hands on his hips.

"What?"

Cloud garbled some really strange stuff at him, and then rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine." Reno huffed, and knelt down to straighten the man out. He propped Strife against one stone wall, and the man glared, curling into himself and drawing his knees to his chest. "Oh, please, what in the hell are you acting that way for?"

The blond gave him an ugly look.

Reno sat back, grinning. "Keep acting that way, and I won't untie you at all." He was absurdly pleased when Cloud went still. "Now then!" He grabbed the blond's feet, wrapping his hands around the cool flesh, and set them on his own lap so he could work with the knot better. He cursed after a moment. "Its times like these I wish I also knew how to untie knots." Cloud made a slight muffled noise, but Reno ignored him. A few more tries at it, and he got it undone. "Great!" he enthused, grabbing Cloud's ankles and setting his feet aside. "Now, let me at the other - this one's gonna be harder."

He leaned forward, ignoring Cloud's growling complaints, and reached around the blond's waist. "Even harder since I can't see - unless you want me to toss you on your stomach and sit on you."

He chuckled when Cloud once again fell silent. He was just playing with the damned kid. Besides, weren't those SOLDIERS and the others supposed to have a bit of an iffy sexuality anyway? Cloud was acting pretty homophobic for having been around these kinda people - then again, from what he understood, he's also been kinda young, and iffy sexuality or not, a friend may have protected Strife from that sort of person. His fingers slipped on the knot and he cursed slightly, readjusting his seating position to get better access to it. Another thing he'd noticed it was Cloud was _very _touchy about his scars. He could sorta understand why - they were clearly medical scars rather than battle scars, and they were huge and blotchy; Hojo wasn't good at sewing up his victims apparently.

"Hold still." he hissed when Strife shifted, inadvertantly tugging the knot tight on Reno's fingers. He understood that the man was uncomfortable about the closeness, but he'd have to get used to it. Even from this distance, he could sense the blond's heart pounding, and his harsh breathing stirred the hair near Reno's ear. He should really calm down.

"Finally!" he cheered, feeling the knot give. It unraveled, and he sat back just enough to look up at the blond, dangling the strip of his jacket. "There you go, Prickles. Undone."

Strife was just staring at him with those goddamned eyes, not moving a muscle. What was he ?

His back hit the dirt floor hard, limbs akimbo, and a weight landed on his stomach. Hands gripped his shoulders, digging into his flesh. He winced as a thumb accidentally dug into the wound on his chest. He grinned with heavy eyes up at the seething man. "What's your call?"

"Reno…" Strife snarled, his breath still coming fast.

"You having fun up there?"

Strife ground that thumb into the wound, and Reno felt it tear and gush blood, gritting his teeth to avoid screaming, but he couldn't stop his body from stiffening and arching, trying to dislodge the man. A cold sweat broke out across his skin, pain raging through him - and just as the wound had closed and his fever had subsided!

"You're ... provoking me, Reno."

Reno shivered violent. Strife had once again tumbled over the edge of sanity, staring at him squirming with pain, and purring. The blond's fingers eased up on the wound, and tugged at the bandages.

"Gotta see how it's going, Reno - gotta see if the infection's spreading…"

Reno shivered again, listening to the half mad muttering. He stared blurrily at the man as he pried the bandages away, ripping the rest of the scab away. He arched again, groaning in pain. "What in the fuck - stop that!"

"Oh ... its all red."

Strife was staring at the wound in an absent way, and Reno felt a trill of apprehension. He winced in pain as Strife's fingers dragged over the ragged bloody flesh, sting, and then stared in horror as the blond licked his fingers clean.

"What in the fuck's your pro - ah!" he was cut off with a muffled scream as the crazed man grabbed the bandages and jerked them tight over the wound. He panted, half-delirious with pain and heat - his body was burning with fear and agony, fever back full force. He could feel his bangs still sticking to his forehead, staring dazedly at the rocks above them.

Strife suddenly blocked out his view, laying down braced on his forearms, face not even an inch away from Reno's eyes half-lidded, smirking. "You provoked ... and then ... Silly Turk."

Reno was still struggling for breath, a dull pounding echoing in his body. He did his best to ignore the way Strife was acting, because it didn't make since, but it was starting to affect him. It was way too bizarre that this should be affecting him - pain and fear had never been a turn on before.

"Get the fuck off me, Strife." he snarled.

"But Reno, you provoked me ... should know better."

"You keep acting like this and I'll kick your ass, you idiot!"

Strife stared at him a moment longer, and then sat up. He patted Reno's chest a few times, and stood. "You're fun to play with Reno."

Reno laid still a moment longer, panting and staring at the ceiling. _What _? "You fucking gorge out my wound, and then say I'm fun to fucking play with?" Reno demanded, sitting up sharply.

Glowing blue eyes stared at him unblinkingly, almost saying, 'so what?'

"I've had it up to here with your goddamned psychotic -"

Reno reached over and grabbed one of the fruit, and hurled it at the blond's head. It bounced off with a disgusting squish, leaving pink stained hair, and Strife spun around, an incredulous look on his face.

"What in the hell are you?" Strife growled, picking up the abused fruit. "A _monkey_?" he hurled it back at Reno who barely dodged.

"Look who's talking, idiot!" Reno snarled and chunked it back at him. There was a movement faster than he could see, and then pain exploded against his cheek. He stumbled backwards and tripped over his feet, falling onto his back. Something watery was funning down his face, and he instinctively licked his lips when it made it there.

The fruit.

Reno heaved a sigh, sitting up and scrapping the chunks of pulp off his face, tossing the disgusting flesh outside. Strife was still panting and glaring at him, but the redhead decided to ignore him for the moment, licking his fingers to get the sticky juice off. They couldn't go back to the stream now.

Now that he set his mind on ignoring Strife, he licked his fingers more and began to scrub at his cheek. It wasn't working very well, and he heaved a sigh. It really sucked that he had no shirt except for the thin-threaded tee shirt, which did absolutely nothing to keep him warm when a cold breeze came by. With a disgusted grunt, he gave up on cleaning off his cheek, and instead settled on making sure his fingers were clean.

"Who's the fucking cat now?"

Reno started slightly, his finger leaving his mouth with a pop. "What?" he asked, suddenly remembering the blond.

Strife was staring at him from further inside the cave, and was thus shadowed. The glowing Makou eyes and pale skin was the only thing that made him stand out.

Reno smirked at him. "Like I have a choice?" he asked, licking one finger one last time before grabbing his ankles and leaning toward the blond. "What are you doing back there anyway?"

"You're acting weird."

Reno blinked a few times, and then frowned. "This from the guy that jumps me and plays with my blood ... sure."

"You know that was the virus."

"It was still you, Prickles." Reno scoffed, and slouched over. "So don't you blame that psychotic episode on that damned virus."

Strife huffed with annoyance, but didn't say anything further.

Reno unfolded and lay on the ground, his back to the blond. It was getting dark, and he had every intention of sleeping - right after he concocted a plan to bug the hell out of Strife.

**,;;, TOBECONTINUED ,;;,**

You know, it's suggestions like these:

**You should add a ? after this sentence: "Gotta see how it's going, Reno - gotta see if the infection's spreading…"**

That make me not like grammar-checkers. It wants me to say " - if the infection's spreading…"?; Does this sound intelligent? Or is it just me that's sitting here going, WTF?

If you'll notice, Reno has started using Cloud's name mentally. Isn't that nice? Though as soon as he gets pissed at the blond, he returns to the use of the Surname. From now on, that'll be a good idicator about just how Reno is responding to Cloud's actions since he's a bit more complex about his feelings toward the blond than Cloud is (its quiet clear what Cloud thinks of Reno most of the time).

I almost started to draw a RenoCloud doujinshi, but my talent refused to get the faces right, so I'll have to wait for that. Ugh. X.x;;

Well, you may or maynot be pleased to find out that chapter nine is a doozy. It completely ignored my 'at least 3000 words per chapter and no more than 4000' rule. (cries) It is, esentially, two chapters in one.

_Please leave a snide remark after the rant!_

Rant BAD grammar checker thing! Bad! bad! (hits with stick)

On another note, I usally don't pair up guys that aren't friends, but Cloud and Reno were just asking for it, majorly. The complete deciding factor was during their last run in, though. Seriously, if you look at the two senarious you have, Reno can say one of two things - "I know we've got a weird relationship, but..." and then tries to kill you one last time to attempt at ending it like a Turk, or he says "Farewell. If we both survive... If we can save our lives..." and then takes off. You know, putting that together ... (giggles hysterically in the corner) though I may be stretching it. I don't consider that proof (heavens no, I don't play that game) I'm just saying that's why I put these two together besides that they're hot together. /Rant


	9. Nightmares, the Past, and Clones

Chapter: Nine - "Nightmares, the Past, and Clones"

_Last Edit Date: 01.04.2005_

**Warnings**: R for Reno, Cloud, Sexual tension, and freaky nightmares.

**NOTES**: I do not in any way ship Cloud and Sephiroth. I avoid those like the plague because I do not see it, and I don't like the way they look together. I don't like Sephiroth. I don't like the way he looks. I love his character when he goes insane though! (purrs) "I'm going to see mother." (giggles hysterically) I can just see him saying that in a really snooty voice.

And don't think I don't like SephirothCloud simply because I haven't read any. When I first got into FFVII, that's what I read, and it didn't hold my attention long enough for me to stay in the fandom longer than a week. Then I saw a VincentCloud doujinshi, and I came back. Then I saw the light, and became the RenoCloud fan I am today. Now, without further ado, on with the story.

**,;;, WARNING: Keyboard Not Attached. Press F10 to Continue. ,;;,**

Cloud opened his eyes, blinking. The room was dark, and there were soft sheets under him and over him. He blinked slightly as he shifted, realizing that he wore no cloths - strange, because he didn't sleep in the nude. The door opened, and he watched wearily as a figure entered the room.

"Awake, Chobo-head?"

A tremor of fright and excitement flooded him. Only one person called him that - "Zack?"

The man stepped into the moonlight, grinning, grey-blue eyes almost silver. "Who were you expecting? Vincent?"

Cloud froze at this question, eyes widening. A chill ran down his spine and settled in his gut, leaving him prickling wit goose flesh. Zack didn't know Vincent. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to ask, though, the sheets sticking to his back as he watched the man he wasn't sure he knew from between his feet.

Zack continued forward, grinning until he was beside Cloud. He bent over, propping his chin up on his folded arms, smiling down at the man. "Cloud, Cloud, Cloud, what am I going to do with you? So small - you saved the world, and yet you haven't grown an inch from when we escaped."

Cloud's breathing wasn't quiet even, though he wasn't sure if it was fear or not.

Zack lifted a hand, and silver glinted. Cloud's eyes widened in panic at the sight of the scalpel, yet his body refused to move. Cold steel froze his skin, and he was strapped down, expose, unable to do anything, leather chaffing his skin.

"The good Dr. Hojo was so disappointed when you ran away, Fluff-for-brains." Zack said, sounding very melancholy. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you leave?"

The scalpel dug into his chest, and blood erupted. Cloud screamed - more in terror than anything, because it didn't hurt like it should - and strained against the leather straps.

"Why'd you leave me to die?" the words were spoken emotionlessly, and the scalpel dug downward, into his stomach, and was ripped upward.

Blood - blood everywhere, and thick ropes of intestine.

"Silly little failure." Sephiroth said, withdrawing the blade. Cloud watch with eyes too wide and too clear as the man licked the blood from the blade, and grinned at him. "Come back to me. Come _home_."

Cloud wanted to scream, but was gagged with a kiss.

Fireburningandmakeitstopbutitcan'tanditwon't -

Sweat drenched his clothing, and he scrambled backwards into the rock wall, chest heaving and dizzy with hyperventilation. It was burning! It _hurt_!

He clawed at his clothing, jerking his shirt up to stare at his chest. No-no-no, it was all there wasn't any blood - he ran his hand up and down his skin, almost not believing it, fingers jumping over all the slick scar tissue that littered his body.

"It wasn't real -" he hissed, fingers rubbing at the long lateral scar that ran the length of his body - from collar-bone all the way down to disappear under his waistband. He clamped a hand over his mouth to force his breathing to slow, tugging down his shirt, eyes shut tight.

_Not real_, he repeated silently. _It wasn't real, Sephiroth doesn't want me, not again - don't think I can do that again…_

Then his eyes snapped open, and flickered around the cave. A flash of returned light, and he focused on it.

Reno was against the other wall, slouching, eyes watching him closely. Cloud felt his hair stand on end, bristling, muscles coiling, ready to pounce - couldn't be caught weak, weak killed you - before he forced himself to calm down.

"Voyeur much, Reno?"

The lights flickered as Reno blinked, and there was just enough light to reflect a pale glow as he grinned. "I don't know about your experiences, but if that was a wet-dream, I'm glad mine aren't like that."

Cloud closes his eyes out of spite since they'd both gotten used to the small light they shed, immersing the two of them in darkness. "You're right - you don't know about my experiences."

"Who is Zack?"

Cloud's muscles coiled, and he was almost to Reno before he caught himself. He opened his eyes and glared at the man, backing away. He settled himself against the wall, wrapping his arms around his knees, his side to Reno, facing outward. "Why?"

"Obvious reasons - you said his name."

Cloud stared at Reno for a very long time before half shutting his eyes and resting his chin on his arms, peering into the forest outside. "Him. The SOLDIER."

"Ah - the one Hojo took away from you."

Cloud stilled at this assumption, his eyes flickering back to Reno though he doesn't move. "Took him - No. The one I left." There was a beat of silence, and Cloud wondered what Reno would say this time to keep him talking. He knew the movements of Reno's game.

"Alright, I'll bite. What'dya mean?"

For a moment, Cloud was surprised - Reno would usually back off from topics that Cloud found touchy. "I left him in the mountains - lost him - I think it rained- They got him, but I never found out -" Everything was blurred and shattered. Memories weren't quiet right, didn't hang on his soul correctly. "I don't remember."

"Don't or don't want to - that's the question you should be asking and aren't."

"Oh, that was just fucking poetic, Reno." Cloud snapped, watching with rap attention as the redhead drummed out a chaotic beat on his wrist, fingertips hitting the skin stretch over bone harsh and fast.

"It happens." he said finally. "So you left the guy to die in the mountains."

Again, Cloud coiled, ready to spring, and made himself unwind. "It happens." he snarled. He didn't have to explain himself to Reno - of all people- Didn't need to tell the man he'd been sick with Makou-poisoning, and couldn't save the man he'd -admittedly - lusted after, couldn't tell him that he was lucky to be alive. "I regularly leave my best friends on mountain tops. You should have been there when I had the whole group on Gaea's Cliff."

Reno gaped at him a moment before doubling over, clapping a hand to him mouth. Cloud allowed himself a small smirk at the sound of strangled laughing. "Though I see it didn't work, Cloud." Reno said, and for a confused and bizarre moment, Cloud could have sworn the man was purring, but he told himself that Reno's voice was rough because of the fever that he knew burned bright after he clawed the wound open. Wordlessly, he reached over to the small pile of fruit and picked up the one he knew to be ripest.

"Catch." he said, and only waited long enough for Reno to look before tossing it over.

"What? Are you trying to keep me up all night?"

Before Cloud could even begin to think, words tumbled out of his mouth. "There are better ways I can think of to keep you up all night, now eat the damned fruit."

There was a short silence in which Cloud assumed Reno was trying to figure out just what Cloud was implying with that, and in which Cloud _was _trying to figure out just what he meant. Finally, Reno spoke up. "And just what would some of those ways entail?"

Cloud loosened his arms, causing one leg to fall against the ground, and leaned back on his hands, regarding Reno with his cheek pressed against his shoulder. "I'm not sure I wanna find out. The virus is having fun right now, and I don't really have a clue what I'm doing. Don't expect much that's logical from me, okay?"

"I won't - especially after that."

"Good - now, goddamnit, eat that fucking fruit!"

"Should I read between the lines?"

"I ... what are you talking about? I couldn't speak between the lines if I tried right now, and if you think there's something there, let me know so I can not say it again."

Reno grinned at him from across the cave. "Nah, this is too fun."

Cloud gave him a look and sunk the rest of the way down onto the dirt floor, sprawling. "You would think so - I think I may be feverish."

"Then maybe you should eat the fruit."

"I'm not _that _feverish, and that wouldn't help anyway."

"Then why do you think it would help me?"

"Because your voice is rougher than usual."

"You've been paying close attention, huh, Cloud?"

"I claim virus and Makou heighten senses, and if that fails, that I never actually said that, it was just a fevered hallucination."

"There you go with the hallucinations. Are you sure you don't have some weird fetish about screwing someone while they're delusional?"

"Pretty sure, because if I did, then I'd want to screw you and your damned narcissism issues."

"I'll have you know that my narcissism issues are not delusions and are perfectly logical."

"Then maybe I should find someone with a delusions fetish and get laid."

"Now that sounds like a plan, Cloud! We'll kick that into action once we're back on mainland."

Cloud huffed, and rolled over onto his side, staring at the wall. "If, you bastard." he growled. "I doubt you'll get back alive simply because you know too fucking much, and I'm Z's pet Jenova-farm."

Reno chuckled, and a chill went down Cloud's spine. "Back to being bitter, huh? Suck it up, Strife. I don't want to hear it, and it really pisses me off when I have to be around somebody as fucked up as you, okay?"

The reaction was already underway when Cloud finally felt the red-hot fury slice into his spine, buried into his stomach. He had Reno pinned against the wall; they were dangerously close, the force of his weight grinding the redhead into the cold stone. Reno's teeth were clinched from the pain, wincing.

"It pisses you off?" Cloud asked, and was slightly disturbed by how much it sounded like he was purring. "This ... makes you angry?" Heat was quickly trapped between the narrow space of their bodies, and he was close enough to know that Reno could feel every breath he took. "So easy to provoke, Reno?" Gods, it sounded like he was trying to seduce the man! "Lack of control - Silly Turk!" unexpected laughter bubbled up from Cloud's throat, and he rocked backwards, away from Reno, and he let himself fall off his heels, legs stick up at odd angles as he sat on the dirt floor, holding his side and chuckling as if he couldn't stop.

Dammit, the world was swirling at it wouldn't stop - thecolorsburredagainandhewasn'tsurewheretodrawthelineanymore. "I'm going home!" he snickered. "Sephiroth told me I could! I'm going to see my brothers ! I wonder if Mother will be there too?"

Cloud ignored the fact that Reno was staring at him like he'd lost his mind - mostly because he was sure it was true. "And Zack will be there - Sephiroth told me so. No - wait, Sephiroth - Seph…" Cloud curled into himself grabbing at his skull. "But she's screaming again - why doesn't she stop?" His vision went white. "No, no - she's dead - should be - why am I hearing her again?"

Weight, and the world turned upside down, pain sparking across his shoulders, sharp edges digging into his body. Slender fingers full of strength clamped down on his mouth, forcing his head back and baring his throat. Panic flooded him. Couldn't have that - it was weak, it was surrender, and that got you killed. Jenova doesn't want to die.

Nausea made his head swirl, his stomach churning, and his eyes were staring sightlessly upwards. His breaths were fast and harsh, air rushing in and out of his nose. His skin itched like it wanted off him, and his limbs didn't seem to want to exist anymore, feeling oddly heavy. Dully, he understood that this wasn't a good sign, but his awareness was softening and going black.

Warm and invasion jerked him rudely back, the cave ceiling jerking into perspective through brilliant red hair. He unsteadily swam through sensations, disoriented by the abruptly aborted change. Confusion weighed heavily on his responses, instinctively reacting, and then he finally caught onto just what was happening.

Reno was kissing him.

The panic button was promptly slammed with a sledgehammer.

What the ? He tensed, struggling between the flight or fight response, and suddenly decided upon both. His arm jerked up, ripped from the redhead's grip, and lashed out, freeing most of his upper body of weight. His body twisted violently, almost able to escape, and he dug his fingers into the dirt, pulling. A hand tightened around his ankle, and he twisted at the waist, aiming a foot for Reno's face. The redhead easily dodged it, grabbing that leg by the knee, and jerked Cloud back, twisting his body.

Cloud's vision swam and his head ached sharply where it hit the floor, disoriented. He didn't have time to struggle more than slightly when the damned man did it again. Confused thoughts swam through his head.

'I don't want you - what in the hell are you thinking? What if I had gone ahead and changed, what then? Damned bastard is always been a fucking pain in the ass and doing things that don't make sense ... at least he's a good kisser.'

That thought jerked him back to the present, and in a fit of anger, he bit Reno. The redhead jerked up sharply, stormy blue eyes wide in shock, and Cloud glared venomously.

"Just what in the fuck are you doing, you stupid bastard?" Cloud demanded.

Reno's shocked expression melted into a smirk, and he settled down heavily on Cloud's legs. "What in the hell do you think?"

"Get the fuck offa me." he growled, struggling against Reno's grip, though admittedly not as strongly as he could have.

"Why? I'm comfy up here."

"Who in the hell told you it was a good idea to molest me, dammit?" Cloud snarled. "You could have just infected yourself."

"Well, you weren't originally complaining."

"I hit you, didn't I!"

"I decided to pass that off as the virus."

"What the - you - Reno -" he finally gave up, falling back against the dirt. "You gonna die, you know that?"

"What? Are you gonna kill me now?" Reno purred, leaning forward slightly.

"If you're infected, I doubt the virus would let me. Why in the hell do you think I won against Sephiroth? Jenova had a better hold on him at the time."

"The more you say, the more I think I want to get infected. But I wouldn't want the psychotic episodes to go with it."

Cloud stared at the man for a moment, still disoriented; his mind took that opportunity to flip through memories and information. "Well, I can't assure you anything because I don't know anyone who wasn't infected that also wasn't fucked up previous to it. Seph always was infected, Hojo always a bastard, Vincent with his masochism and melodrama, and they're the only ones I can recall."

"And you with amnesia."

Something tugged at Cloud, and he responded immediately; Reno had let his guard down. He jerked and twisted violently, and almost upended the Turk on his back. He'd forgotten that Reno hadn't a Turk for nothing.

His breath left him in a strangled yelp as arms wrapped around his chest, trapping his arms, and he hit the ground with added weight on his back.

"Goddamnit!" he snarled, twisting in vain. "Infected or not, I'm gonna kill you!"

Or maybe he wasn't, as Reno chuckled that particular way that made shivers and chills travel his spine.

He still wasn't sure if it was fear or not.

**,;;, Almost Oblivion ,;;,**

Something was bothering Z. She wasn't quiet sure what it was. Something just on the edge of her mind kept tugging at her, but she could never quiet catch it to figure out what it was. She snorted and continued with her observations.

"Subject One, you're doing better than I thought you would - Jenova likes you greatly." she purred, noting that the Jenova was now freely moving around the blond's body. It was being 'smarter' this time; it wasn't ravaging his body as it had done to the others. One's body was teeming with the alien cells, and her earlier hyperbole was practically true. Destroy One's body, and while One himself would cease to exist, his body would reform and Jenova would guide it through survival.

He was strong enough now for her to proceed with her plans, which would have killed him if he was weaker. "And then Beta can have his fun." she tittered, running her hands down the computer monitor. She spun around, and stalked off toward the cargo hold. It was time to gather her specimens. If they were lucky, they could catch them while One was asleep.

She'd given it some thought, and perhaps she would try the experiment with Two also. She doubted he'd live through it, but since he'd be handy and what she planned didn't exactly take very much in the way of resources, she might as well try. First, she'd have to get Beta taken care of, then Alpha. They were the two she was more concerned with.

She couldn't wait for Beta to settle the virus. Once he did, she could splice his infected cells with his original, and she would be provided with a new - _better_ - Sephiroth. Someone born with the Virus.

Really, she was surprised that Hojo hadn't understood that One was the perfect breeding ground. He didn't interact on the level that most people did with the virus, and this made him much more stable. Of course, that could have been why Hojo ignored this - he didn't want a breeding ground, he wanted a warrior.

Subject One was most definitely not a warrior - she'd listened, she knew that Two was effectively containing One. Such a shame that One's cells had a protein that worked to control the virus instead of letting the virus exploit them.

This revelation threw doubts on her plan, but she'd dismissed them shortly after thinking of them. If One had a protein that restrained the Jenova cells, then couldn't there be other out there that had the necessary proteins to not interact with the virus at all? Or even kill the virus?

Even though the virus came from space didn't mean that there wasn't a chance that an antidote didn't exist on the Planet. That's how species usually evolved - something wipes out those who don't have the required mutation, only the mutated survive, which makes them stronger.

Momentarily, she wished that the idiots back at Nibelhiem hadn't destroyed Hojo's files. Thank Hojo's paranoia that he hid the DNA samples for Alpha and Beta so well.

**,;;, Singin' in da rain on a clear and sunny day,;;,**

Key typed frantically on the computer, trying to record data and keep an eye on the swiftly scrolling page at the same time. "Unbelievable - his DNA shouldn't be doing this." he muttered, eyes fixed on the screen before him. Before his eyes, the strands were shifting just slightly, changing minor things - speed, stamina, reflexes, and other things that didn't make sense to change.

"What's my original doing?"

Key jumped at the voice, and glanced over his shoulder at Beta on the table. The blond was sitting up, long pale legs dangling over the edge, brilliant blue eyes watching him intensely. The ginger-haired boy scowled. "One is not doing anything. That virus is doing it - that virus we're gonna put into you."

The spiky haired youth was unfazed. "I heard you say his name once - Cloud. Doesn't that mean that's my name, too?"

Key scowled. "No." he bit out harshly. "You don't have a name. You're Subject Beta - a toy - a clone."

The blond bit his bottom lip, glaring sullenly at him. "Z said that Jenova had a genetic memory…"

"And?"

"Does it?"

"As far as we can tell - what the hell? Go back to sleep, you reject!"

Beta stared at him balefully for a long moment before twisting and unfolding his long limbs on the table, closing his eyes. Key glared at him a moment longer before turning back to the DNA sample.

"Damned gangly kid..."

**,;;, Card Collapse ,;;,**

The dark haired man stared with mild fascination as the young girl snuck herself along the wall toward him, her dark eyes focused on Z. He glanced at the doctor, and then twisted over onto his hands and knees, crawling over to the side of his cage.

"Hey," she whispered, something about her bubbling with insane energy. "You wanna help me out?"

Alpha quirked his eyebrow, somehow charmed; she obviously wasn't agreeing with what Z was doing, and there was a quirky spastic quality to her that perked his interest. "Well, I certainly don't know what you think I can do from in here, but I'm listening."

"Okay, you know that in a few hours this crazy woman is gonna go catch Cloudy-kun up and have some fun with his pet virus, right?"

"I hope I know that - I'm part of the experiment." he said, humored. She rolled her eyes, tucking a stay hair back behind her ear.

"I'm a friend of Cloud's, and I'd really like to help him out. Mostly something along the lines of - oh, I dunno, bustin' him out o' here, and blowing it sky-high. Taking you and Beta with us, of course."

Alpha grinned. "I like the way you think. You have a plan?"

The young woman's eyes gleamed almost psychotically. "Oh, do I ever."

**,;;, Anything that you could have done ,;;,**

This sucked so much.

Reno had the perfect plan to deal with Cloud, and now they were on the fucking run. Great.

They'd been hiding the shadows for several hours now, but how much longer that was going to last couldn't be told. Apparently Z was back to get them, and Cloud really didn't want to go. Oddly enough, when Cloud had realized that there was someone nearing their cave, he'd shoved Reno off, and the only thing that kept the man from restraining Cloud again was the fact that Cloud had a firm grip on his shirt and was jerking him into the nearby foliage. Reno regretted being just about useless for the first twenty meters or so of their escape, but it had taken him that long to sort out just what the man was doing, at first thinking that it was just another psychotic episodes that seemed to happen whenever Cloud got confused.

Cloud was high-strung as ever, and Reno was nearing delusional and he knew it. Between the fever and lack of sleep, he didn't have much impulse control - not that he had a lot to begin with. He was quiet sure that the only thing that was stopping him from sneak-attacking Cloud was the fact that he was quiet aware that if he got caught by those lumbering imbeciles, he wouldn't enjoy it.

He was starting to regret not eating that fruit like Cloud told him to - they were high in sugar and that might have helped him continue at a better clip. As it was, he was slowing Cloud down since the man was mostly lost in feral instincts and Reno was still quiet capable of logic.

Across from him, Cloud tensed up, and Reno knew that this meant that Z's henchmen were near. The blond grabbed his arm and yanked him up roughly; Reno barely caught his footing, trying to follow, but staring behind them where he could hear the other men.

It wouldn't take much.

He kept pace with Cloud, and as always, Cloud let go of his arm. Reno spun abruptly, and took off full tilt, mostly blind and unaware of his path. It didn't matter, he was making enough noise to both draw the henchmen and drive the man that was more animal at the moment away.

'Gods, I hope they at least give me some fucking medicine before they do what ever they're gonna do to me, or put me out of my misery quietly.'

A root caught his foot and he hit the ground hard. "Shit!"

He lifted his head from the ground and spit, trying to remove the taste of leaves. Damn, busted his lip, too. He sat up, body aching, and grabbed his head. Perhaps running away was not the brightest idea he'd ever had. Damn, impulse-control was more important than he thought - especially if this was the result.

_Snap !_

Reno froze, and chuckled nervously. He twisted at the waist and looked up at the two hulking men. Fuck. "Hi!" he said cheekily. He was a survivor - he'd make it. Then he found himself staring up the barrel of a tranquilizer gun. "Shit."

He really needed to learn that impulse-control thing.

Well, the ground wasn't that ha -…

**,;;, What would you have done,;;,**

Cloud sulked in the shrub he was currently hiding under. As pissed as he was about what Reno had done, and how much he wanted to go beat the crap out of those guys just so he could beat the crap out of Reno for doing something so stupid, he wasn't willing to get himself caught just to do it. He was slightly proud to have gotten was far away from the henchmen as he had, but knew it was partly due to them having to pack up Reno in a steel cage.

Really, Hojo had better transportation for his specimens than this bitch. She could at least have better-lookingtransport, if not more comfortable or resourceful. Weren't women supposed to like that look better stuff? As far as he knew, they usually went to a lot of effort for it.

He shifted forward, struggling not to pant with exertion. He crawled out from under the bush, bending his back until it strained in an effort not to disturb the leaves and create knowledge of his passing.

_Warning!_

Fuck.

Dr. Z stood there, smirking at him, a shotgun in her hands.

"Hello, Subject One," she purred.

He really wasn't going to like this.

A loud explosion, red-hot pain, and then nothing.

**,;;,TOBECONTINUED,;;,**

_**Twice the chapter deserves twice the commentary!**_

And Yes, I did mean to type in "Chobo-head" and not "Choco" or "Chocobo".

No, the Zack in the dream was at no point Sephiroth. That was Zack, and then it was Sephiroth. Again, this are not real people, they are figments of Cloud's torment psyche. No, Sephiroth is not coming back. I hate the bastard.

Whee what for FootSoldier!trained Cloud trying to escape from Turk!trained Reno! (giggles hysterically in the corner).

Don't tell me you didn't see the psychotic episode coming. I never let them get too close without one. (purr)

(stares blandly at the 'lets sit on Strife and talk' part) ...Wtf? Sometimes I hate being an author that writes character-driven, and not plot. Reno just _had _to have a conversation with Cloud right after molesting him, though I think that Prickles is just as much to blame. Ugh. Yes, please talk instead of molesting each other. Then again, I guess I should call myself lucky, because Reno decided to kiss Cloud - That wasn't my doing. (holds up hands) Seriously. I did not see that coming.

Heh, lookit. Z doesn't realize that Alpha/Zack has the proteins that kill the Jenova virus. Irony, man, Irony. And now we see that both Key and Hojo have a thing for calling Cloud a reject. (rolls eyes)

And no, the henchmen did not shoot Reno in the eye. That would kill him, hun. There were two, it was the second on that got him.

Ouch. In case you don't remember, refer to Chapter Two, Section One, Paragraph Thirty, and Chapter Nine, Section Two, Paragraph Three, or Chapter Six, Section Two, Paragraph Seven as to why Z decided to gun him down with a freakin' shotgun. Isn't Z the nicest person?

Yes, those comments that are centered and bolded in mean nothing, and have no relation to the story, they're just for fun. n.n;

_Please leave a snide remark after the rant!_

rant BAD grammar checker thing! Bad! bad! (hits with stick) X.x It gave me SOO much trouble ... /rant


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